We are naturally moral beings, but our environments can enhance - or, sadly, degrade - this innate moral sense. — Paul Bloom Copy Share Image
The real problem with natural selection is that it makes no intuitive sense. It is like quantum physics; we may intellectually grasp… — Paul Bloom Copy Share Image
In politics and in society, we can use our reason to rise above our parochial natures. Too bad that our elected officials… — Paul Bloom Copy Share Image
Relying on the face might be human nature - even babies prefer to look at attractive people. But, of course, judging someone… — Paul Bloom Copy Share Image
We don't just respond to things as we see them, or feel them, or hear them. Rather, our response is conditioned on… — Paul Bloom Copy Share Image
One way to make a baby cry is to expose it to cries of other babies. There's sort of contagiousness to the… — Paul Bloom Copy Share Image
Some of the natural world is appealing, some of it is terrifying, and some of it grosses us out. Modern people don't… — Paul Bloom Copy Share Image
I think there's some evidence that we're empathic by nature. There is some evidence from studies of babies and young children that… — Paul Bloom Copy Share Image
Natural selection shaped the human brain to be drawn toward aspects of nature that enhance our survival and reproduction, like verdant landscapes… — Paul Bloom Copy Share Image
I want to convince you that humans are, to some extent, natural born essentialists. What I mean by this is we don't… — Paul Bloom Copy Share Image
I have two teenage sons, and they're both surviving, thriving, and having a great time, and they're always on social media. — Paul Bloom Copy Share
Families survive the terrible twos because toddlers aren't strong enough to kill with their hands and aren't capable of using lethal weapons. — Paul Bloom Copy Share
If Inigo Montoya were around now, he wouldn't need to storm the castle to bring his father's murderer to justice; the police would do… — Paul Bloom Copy Share
Most of us know nothing about constitutional law, so it's hardly surprising that we take sides in the Obamacare debate the way we root… — Paul Bloom Copy Share
“Being a good person likely is more related to distanced feelings of compassion and kindness, along with intelligence, self-control, and a sense of justice.… — Paul Bloom Copy Share
Imagination is Reality Lite - a useful substitute when the real pleasure is inaccessible, too risky, or too much work. — Paul Bloom Copy Share
One way to make a baby cry is to expose it to cries of other babies. There's sort of contagiousness to the crying. It's… — Paul Bloom Copy Share
I want to convince you that humans are, to some extent, natural born essentialists. What I mean by this is we don't just respond… — Paul Bloom Copy Share
The fact that something can be used for good isn't necessarily a knockdown argument for it. — Paul Bloom Copy Share
Our best hope for the future [...] lies in an appreciation of the fact that, even if we don’t empathize with distant strangers, their… — Paul Bloom Copy Share
When people want to inspire you to turn against some group of people, they'll often use empathy. When Obama wanted to bomb Syria, he… — Paul Bloom Copy Share
I'm very interested in why we do good things, or bad things, and where moral judgments come from. — Paul Bloom Copy Share
I have my own difficulty with movies in which the suffering of the characters is too real, and many find it difficult to watch… — Paul Bloom Copy Share
I think what a lot of fiction is, is the imagining of the worst so as to prepare ourselves. — Paul Bloom Copy Share
Morality is often seen as an innovation, like agriculture and writing. From this perspective, babies are pint-sized psychopaths, self-interested beings who need to be… — Paul Bloom Copy Share
