The Key to Lasting Happiness

In this lively interview series from the RSA, Matthew Taylor, puts a range of practitioners on the spot - from scholars to business leaders, politicians to journalists - by asking for big ideas to help build effective bridges to our new future.

It seems obvious that pleasure leads to happiness. So why are we attracted to gruelling challenges that at times can truly hurt, from writing a novel to running a marathon or even raising a family? Drawing on findings from psychology and brain science, psychologist Paul Bloom argues that meaning and sacrifice can unlock the key to lasting happiness.

Paul Bloom is Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, and Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University. Paul studies how children and adults make sense of the world, with special focus on pleasure, morality, religion, fiction, and art. He has written for scientific journals such as Nature and Science, and for popular outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic Monthly. He is the author of six books, including his most recent, The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning.

A Tempo & Talker production for the RSA. 

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