We all do things we know we shouldn’t. Eat that party size bag of M&Ms when we’re stressed. Have just one more drink. Sleep with our ex. Get a tattoo of the KFC Double Down sandwich (this actually happened).
There’s even an entire city is built on the knowledge that we will do stupid things: what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Today we’ll talk about three reasons why—even as our conscience or our common sense screams, “Nooooooooo!”—we watch ourselves do things we know we’ll regret.
Reason #1: Two Kinds of Pleasure. From a 2007 paper in the journalPsychopharmacology comes the idea that there are actually two types of pleasure. The first type is how we usually think of pleasure: a state of happy satisfaction. For example, we get this kind of pleasure from a good meal, sex and its afterglow, or from that first sip when we’re really, really thirsty. We’ll call this pleasure “liking.”
If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.
If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
