Paul Bloom
Paul Bloom
Paul Bloomis a Canadian American professor of psychology and cognitive science at Yale University. His research explores how children and adults understand the physical and social world, with special focus on language, morality, religion, fiction, and art...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionPsychologist
Date of Birth24 December 1963
CountryCanada
thinking empathy sparks
I think empathy can serve as a moral spark, motivating us to do good things. But anything can be a moral spark.
thinking empathy important
I think empathy is really important for pleasure.
empathy stories moral
I'm really interested in the pleasure we get from stories and the pleasure we get from movies, and certainly the pleasure we get from virtual experiences. My complaint is against empathy as a moral guide. But as a source of pleasure, it can't be beat.
compassion people empathy
It's hard to pull apart empathy from compassion. What is really clear is that we innately care for other people at least to some extent.
people empathy way
It has been a period where people have been far nicer to one another in every possible way. I'm not saying it's because we're dropping our empathy that we're nicer to each other, just that the drop doesn't seem to be causing any harm.
country empathy groups
Because of empathy, we care more for, and devote far more resources to, someone who is familiar, from our country or our group, than a stranger.
empathy be-kind arguing
I argue that we should be kind, we should be compassionate, and we should definitely be reasonable and rational, but that empathy leads us astray.
war people empathy
Because of empathy, stories of the suffering of one person could lead us into a war that could kill millions of people.
empathy zoom racist
Empathy zooms you in on an individual and, as a result, it's narrow, it's innumerate, it's racist, it's very biased.
people empathy inspire
When people want to inspire you to turn against some group of people, they'll often use empathy.
smart empathy may
This enthusiasm [for empathy] may be misplaced. Empathy has some unfortunate features – it is parochial, narrow-minded and innumerate. We’re often at our best when we’re smart enough not to rely on it.
beliefs cultural eroded facts scientific soon spread
These facts are an embarrassment for those who see supernatural beliefs as a cultural anachronism, soon to be eroded by scientific discoveries and the spread of cosmopolitan values.
angry article care couple gods obey people rule science souls ten verbal
I tell you, a couple of years ago, there was a science article on a dog, Rico, that could obey verbal commands. That got me ten times more angry e-mails than this. Souls and gods are one thing, but people care a lot about their dogs. So my rule is: I can write about God but not dogs.
again children life lose screwed
We'd be really screwed if we had to start our life over again as children with our brains right now, because I think we lose the plasticity and flexibility.