Using the quirks of our mind to hack our negative experiences can give us a lot more joy and happiness. We often get more pleasure from seemingly yucky sensations like fear or pain than we might expect. For some thrill seekers, this might include chasing the unique emotional high of a Carolina reaper pepper. But for the wusses among us, there's our A-leaf track which allows us to get pleasure without any real pain from completely imagined negative experiences.
There is nothing hotter than Puckerbutt Farm’s Carolina Reaper Hot Sauce... and author Leigh Cowart gargles it for FUN!!! Why do we sometimes get a happiness high from painful and scary things? And what if we want to experience the fun of discomfort and danger... but without the risk of coming to real harm?
With the help of Leigh, psychology professor Paul Bloom and the Yale philosopher Tamar Gendler, Dr Laurie Santos finds out how we can fool ourselves into reaping all the benefits of danger without actually being in peril.
For further reading:
Leigh Cowart - Hurts So Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose.
Paul Bloom - The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning.
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