157 Quotes by Paul Bloom

We can imagine our bodies being destroyed, our brains ceasing to function, our bones turning to dust, but it is harder - some would say impossible - to imagine the end of our very existence.

A growing body of evidence suggests that humans do have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life.

Any simple claim that you need religion to be good is flat wrong.

Humans are social beings, and we are happier, and better, when connected to others.

I think what a lot of fiction is, is the imagining of the worst so as to prepare ourselves.

Imagination is Reality Lite - a useful substitute when the real pleasure is inaccessible, too risky, or too much work.

We are naturally moral beings, but our environments can enhance - or, sadly, degrade - this innate moral sense.

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 taught moral notions such as the wrongness of harming another person.

More-radical scholars insist that an inherent clash exists between science and our long-held conceptions about consciousness and moral agency: if you accept that our brains are a myriad of smaller components, you must reject such notions as character, praise, blame, and free will.