Daybook: 9/10/10

The Science of Pleasure (AEI) In secular culture, pleasure is widely regarded as the supreme value, the goal for which one lives, and the justification for one’s labors. Although religions through the centuries have protested against pleasure as a distraction from spiritual goals, the voice of religion is now hesitant and ineffective, and pressure from consumer culture goes largely unresisted. But what exactly is pleasure? In his recent book, How Pleasure Works: The New Science on Why We Like What We Like (Norton, June 2010), Paul Bloom, professor of psychology at Yale University, seeks to answer this question.

Artist Talk: A Conversation with Yoshitomo Nara and Hideki Toyoshima (Asia Society) Miwako Tezuka, co-curator of the exhibition Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody’s Fool, talks with Yoshitomo Nara and Hideki Toyoshima, Nara's long-time installation design collaborator, about the genesis of their team, YNG, their shared interest in music, and their continuing collaboration, which has taken them throughout the world and now brings them to Asia Society New York. Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody’s Fool exhibition details Please note: this event will also be a free live video webcast on AsiaSociety.org/Live from 6:30 to 8:00 pm