Is Hillary Clinton Really Running a Secret Pedophile Ring Out of a Pizzeria?

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The conspiracy theory is a proxy stand in for something else, whether it's true or not. If you assume that the point of rationality is to get you at the objective truth, then you shouldn't believe in pizza gate. It's kind of dumb. But that's not a good definition of rationality. Rationality is basically trying to achieve your goals. And people have many goals. In the OJ Simpson case, maybe their goal isn't to find the truth or innocence of a man but to retaliate against years and years of vicious racism. The goal of the Pizza Gate person might be to say, you know, boo Hillary.

How does the brain — a three-pound gelatinous mass — give rise to intelligence and conscious experience? Was Freud right that we are all plagued by forbidden sexual desires? What is the function of emotions such as disgust, gratitude, and shame? Renowned psychologist Paul Bloom answers these questions and many more in Psych, his riveting new book about the science of the mind.

Shermer and Bloom discuss: neuroscience • human nature • religion • souls • consciousness • Freud • sex and desire • Skinner • development • language • perception • memory • rationality • appetites • differences and disorders • the good life • happiness.

Paul Bloom is Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, and the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University. His research explores the psychology of morality, identity, and pleasure. Bloom is the recipient of multiple awards and honors, including, most recently, the million-dollar Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize. He has written for scientific journals such as Natureand Science, and for the New York Times, the New Yorker, and the Atlantic Monthly. He is the author or editor of eight books, including Against Empathy, Just Babies, How Pleasure Works, Descartes’ Baby, The Sweet Spot, and Psych: The Story of the Human Mind.