Podcast Club IRL: The Roles of Suffering and Pleasure in Living a Good Life

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS AN IRL (IN-PERSON) EVENT. BE AWARE THAT THE EVENT WILL BE HELD IN AN INDOOR LOCATION AND THAT ALL ATTENDEES MUST BE FULLY VACCINATED.
_____

This week's podcast is "Making Sense," with host Sam Harris and guest Paul Bloom, professor of psychology and cognitive science at Yale University and author of many books, including "The Sweet Spot - The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning," his most recent work.

https://pca.st/episode/706c968c-0f92-45f8-9860-4eeaa1cccd91
(1 hour, 40 minutes)

*samharris.org has given us permission to share full episodes of the Making Sense podcast among our attendees. If you do not subscribe to the paid version of Making Sense, follow the "Non-subscriber" link above for free access to this episode. If you liked this episode and would like to subscribe, click here: https://samharris.org/subscribe/

PLEASE LISTEN TO THE PODCAST BEFORE ATTENDING THE EVENT. If you find you're unable to do so, please instead join one of our future events when you're able to prepare so that we can all be engaged in the discussion.

---

What's this week's podcast(s) about?

In this episode, Sam Harris and Paul Bloom explore the role that pain and suffering play, as well as pleasure, in living a good life. They discuss the limitations of hedonism, the connection between chosen suffering and meaning, and the research of Daniel Kahneman on wellbeing, the remembering selves, and our various biases that affect our perceptions. Harris and Bloom talk about unchosen suffering and how it differs from chosen suffering, happiness (or the lack thereof) in parenthood, Nozick's "experience machine" thought experiment, anticipation, the power of contrasts, the effects of boredom, the types of stories we like, the stories we tell ourselves, and much more. Ultimately, they consider what makes a good life, particularly with respect to our quests for pleasure and meaning.

What's a podcast club?
It's like a book club for podcasts. Each week we discuss an episode from podcasters like Sam Harris, Ezra Klein, or Michael Shermer. We start off as a large group and spend most of the time chatting in smaller groups. Our conversations are casual and open. We encourage everyone to speak freely, respectfully, and concisely. To do this we try to adhere to Grice's Maxims: https://bit.ly/2p4uSQm

Ultimately, the idea is to help each other think a little differently, learn a thing or two and have some fun.

---

Feedback
If you have any suggestions or feedback about this event, we'd really like to hear about it: https://forms.gle/DdN6JJY3HPKzsGAX8

---

Donations:
If this is one of your first MindFood events, feel free to join us gratis! If you would like to chip in, the suggested amount is $1-$5. 1/2 of donations go to covering our costs and 1/2 goes to all event hosts for their time and effort. Here's how:

• Venmo: @MindFood
• Paypal: paypal.me/MindFoodSF
• Recurring: www.patreon.com/mindfood