Armchair Expert episode 374

Paul Bloom

Paul Bloom is a psychologist and professor at Yale University. Paul joins the Armchair Expert to discuss how he loves to debunk simple ideas that people commonly have, how a full life requires both logic and emotion, and how people's empathy rarely extends past our own family or friends. Paul and Dax talk about why people seek out suffering in order to find pleasure, the fascination people have with villain types, and why hedonism can often lead to boredom. Paul explains how toxic positivity has actually prevented people from finding true happiness, the differences in the sexual fantasies between men and women, and whether or not having kids makes people happy.

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Episode overview

Paul Bloom is a psychologist and professor at Yale University. Paul joins the Armchair Expert to discuss how he loves to debunk simple ideas that people commonly have, how a full life requires both logic and emotion, and how people's empathy rarely extends past our own family or friends. Paul and Dax talk about why people seek out suffering in order to find pleasure, the fascination people have with villain types, and why hedonism can often lead to boredom. Paul explains how toxic positivity has actually prevented people from finding true happiness, the differences in the sexual fantasies between men and women, and whether or not having kids makes people happy.

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Short transcript highlights

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  1. 0:00welcome welcome welcome to armchair expert experts on Expert I'm Dak Shepard I'm joined by mateline padalin hello
  2. 51:17really wealthy I don't have to work I don't have to do anything difficult I'm just going to party and do drugs and and
  3. 1:44:16I had something too I was oh I was going to look up stuff that's uh at a rate of 60 per 100,000 just...
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