Descartes' Baby: How the Science of Child Development Explains What Makes Us Human

by Paul Bloom

Book Overview

All humans see the world in two fundamentally different ways: even babies have a rich understanding of both the physical and social worlds. They expect objects to obey principles of physics, and they're startled when things disappear or defy gravity. Yet they can also read emotions and respond with anger, sympathy, and joy. In Descartes' Baby, Bloom draws on a wealth of scientific discoveries to show how these two ways of knowing give rise...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465007864
• ISBN13: 9780465007868
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.9" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Embarrassing, disgusting, and immoral

Paul Bloom explains how it is that humans come to feel embarrassment, disgust, or moral revulsion (among other things). He argues that these feeling can be traced to our earliest development, in which we learn about the properties of objects and other people. These parallel developments interact to result in special feelings towards certain objects such as great works of art or decaying meat. Although feelings of embarrassment and disgust may not be limited to humans, he argues that without even negative emotions and feelings, we would not be fully human.The book is full of witty and fascinating anecdotes, as well as thought-provoking questions. The first chapters lay the groundwork by reviewing recent findings about the development of infants. The book steadily gains in interest as these findings form the groundwork for intriguing discussions of emotion, morality, and religion.Although the author is apparently a professor at Yale, the book can be read by anyone who is interested in children or in how we end up the way we are. In fact, as I got further and further into it, I could not put it down.

A fantastic book!

Engaging and funny cognitive scientist Paul Bloom's second book is a fascinating read. In it, he argues that we are wired to view the world as containing both bodies and souls. Bloom argues convincingly that it is for this reason, that even when the idea of psychophysical dualism clashes with our intellectual understanding of bodies and souls, we still maintain vestiges of a belief in the immaterial soul. His discussions of a huge range of fascinating issues make this book a must-read.Descartes' Baby is incredibly fun to read, and is smattered with bits of humor and amusing anecdotes about real children and adults. Indeed, one of the most humorous moments in this lively book is Bloom's account of a neuroscientist colleague's culinarily-motivated search for animals without a certain neural structure, because, he reasoned, animals without this certain structure surely didn't have consciousness and therefore we safe to eat.Another strength of the book is Bloom's treatment of disgust. His view is both interesting and nuanced and falls naturally from his argument that we are intuitive dualists at heart. Other high points are his discussion of art and forgery, and his quite funny discussion of humor.It's not often that I read nonfiction. Normally I find it either too pedantic or too technical and narrow in scope to appeal to an outsider. One of the tremendous strengths of this book is that someone without training in developmental psychology or philosophy can follow it with ease, while still finding it intellectually satisfying. This book is truly a gem -- both entertaining and important. It's a must-read for anyone who has ever wondered about human nature.

Superb-Written with great clarity, grace and intelligence

This is an amazing book. It is written with great clarity, insight, and humor while at the same time preserving scientific and conceptual rigor-a very rare combination indeed. How often is one lucky enough to pick up a book covering complex issues in science and philosophy and find that it is so riveting that one stays up all night reading it? Bloom addresses one of the deepest and most profound issues of what makes us human, our tendencies to see others as comprised of utterly distinct bodies and minds, that is the dualism of Descartes. While modern philosophers and cognitive scientists may largely reject dualism, the rest of us , and even those philosophers and scientists in their less reflective moments, embrace dualism so completely that it colors every aspect of our interpretations of others and of their activities. Bloom's book brilliantly shows how this dualism is not some late emerging impression made by one's culture or society, instead it is a fundamental part of how our minds are built, and can be seen in rudimentary forms even in infancy. He explains how it emerges and why it makes sense that we should all be endowed with this assumption, even if it is in many ways severely misleading. He shows how our dualism explains an extraordinary range of otherwise puzzling phenomena in domains as diverse as disgust, art forgery, humor, religion and altruism. Bloom is a leading researcher on the development of children's minds who is also an award winning writer; and this book shows how these two skills can mutually reinforce each other in ways that create fascinating, enlightening, and engaging reading. Any one interested in children, in cognitive science, or simply in human nature, will find themselves adoring this book. This book is science writing at its very best.

Fascinating, Lively and Fun Read

This is a Terrific book. It is written in a lively, accessible style, yet says some serious things about what it is to be human. The author's main point is that we have two very different ways of viewing and thinking about reality: in terms of the physical world of material bodies, and in terms of the social world of people. He suggests that these two viewpoints often collide in interesting and surprising ways, to unique effect, to explain such things about human nature as: Why slapstick humor is funny; why we consider some things (such as certain sex acts, for example) to be disgusting; the nature of human morality and why our 'moral circle' has expanded through history; the ubiquity of religious thought; and other things fundamental to being human. To support his explanations, he draws extensively on recent findings in developmental psychology, showing us that how children think and develop tells us a lot about human nature. This is a serious, intelligent book that makes some deep, genuinely creative new insights into the complex nature of human psychology.If you're interested in human nature, child development, or cognitive science, you will find this book full of fascinating information and provocative ideas. Finally, it is just plain fun reading!

Great book from a giant intellect

In this rare combination of entertaining writing and serious scientific review, Bloom argues that human beings are natural-born dualists--meaning that from infancy we perceive the world as being made of "bodies" (material objects) and "souls" (things with intentions, desires, and other mental states). Using this explanatory scheme, Bloom is able to explain a variety of puzzling phenomena--from autism to art forgery. What makes Bloom's book a gem is that it performs a rare feat in modern psychology in that it actually explains social life rather than simply redescribing it using psychological jargon. Whether you are an interested student of psychology, a serious academic, or a curious parent, this book will satisfy your curiousity about the current state of knowledge surrounding human development. (It goes without saying that this is also a must-read for any cognitive science junkie!)With this book Bloom has elevated his status as a serious intellect who has maintained an ability to communicate to a wide audience--joining others like Pinker, Dennett, and Gould.