Essentialism In Lucia Blooms

In Paula blooms Ted talk he argues that human beings are essentialists. He does this successfully by using an example from history to show how the change of the historical origin of an object, can change how we experience it whether it is pain or pleasure. The example Bloom used to showcase he’s idea of essentialism comes from the story of Hermann Goering. Goering was known as being Hitler’s second in command during World War II. He was a collector of art and was a fan of the famous artist Vermeer. Herman then decided he wanted to go out and buy a Vermeer painting. So he bought, what he though was a Vermeer painting from a Dutch art dealer named Han van Meegeren. It turned out the painting Hermann bought was a replica. Of course naturally
That is just a simple reason to us on why origin matters. He said psychologically if you want to get your kids to like healthier foods say it came from McDonalds (assuming they like McDonalds) because it will make the kid think that it came from somewhere good, so it in turn taste better. Adults can do the same manipulation but with wine. If you want your wine to taste better put it in an expensive bottle, so you think the wine taste better then it actually does. Bloom also uses an example from sex to show how an attractive person can be seen as more or less attractive when knowing more information about the individual. Bloom puts up two pictures of individuals one male and one female. They are both seen as fairly attractive individuals but he says those views can change based on their age, kinship, origin, and many other factors that can kill the libido. Typically you don’t marry a person that you do not find attractive. However, you will probably find that you find your spouse to be the most attractive person in the room, where as someone else might not. According to Bloom we all have different tastes based on what we believe to find pleasurable. Bloom also uses an example of a Harvard study done