The Sweet Spot

by Paul Bloom

We were excited to see that psychologist Paul Bloom has a new book out, called The Sweet Spot. It’s about happiness in the broadest sense (what might be called ‘eudaimonia’) and the part pain and suffering plays in it. This book is such a treasure. The backdrop is that this is by a psychologist who is constantly doing experiments and reading about experiments that others are doing on issues of happiness, morality, pleasure, pain etc. He then throws in quotes and views from literature—Shakespeare, the Epic of Gilgamesh, Brave New World), songs, Twitter. Even the acknowledgements are funny: “Daniel Gilbert deserves special mention for nearly persuading me that the whole idea of this book is deeply confused. (He did this once I had finished writing it—thanks, Dan!)”