At the brain level, wanting and liking are distinct phenomena. In this excerpt from a lecture at HowTheLightGetsIn festival, Barry C Smith, the director of the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study, breaks down why this matters deeply in our everyday experience. Centring the discussion on how food marketers get us hooked, Smith details how sensations that we might think of as distinct from eating, like sight, sound and touch, are leveraged to keep us coming back for more – often to the detriment of our health, and even as our enjoyment of the experience diminishes.
You can want things you don’t like and like things you don’t want
The distinct neurochemistry of wanting and liking is helping to make sense of addiction – and more everyday behaviours
by Shayla Love
