The Negative Bias

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The negativey bias, in which a painful things hurt twice as much as pleasure things feel good, is an adaptation with obvious implications. Itt gets our attention, and we're super focused on it. And maybe there's some pleasure in that process of being superattentive and focused, rather than bored. Let me read to you quote from david hume that i think your research puts into proper perspective. Hume writes, reason is and ought only to be the slave of the passions and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them. Is this congenial to your view? Oh, absolutely yes.

We go to movies that make us cry, or scream, or gag. We poke at sores, eat spicy foods, immerse ourselves in hot baths, run marathons. Some of us even seek out pain and humiliation in sexual role-play. Why do we so often seek out physical pain and emotional turmoil? Where do these seemingly perverse appetites come from? In his latest book, The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning, Bloom aims to understand how people find meaning in their lives, and, moreover, to explore what he calls, “the sweet spot” — the proper balance between pleasure and suffering. As one of the world’s leading psychologists, drawing on groundbreaking findings from psychology and brain science, Bloom shows how the right kind of suffering sets the stage for enhanced pleasure.