This week’s obscure recommended reading — The Pursuit of Pleasure, by Dr. Lionel Tiger. Why this book? If you’re involved in creating experiences for others or just curious about your own behaviour, the more you know about pleasure the better.

Dr. Tiger explains that pleasure is part of our evolutionary heritage, encouraging behaviors that ensure our survival. He also points out that wherever there is pleasure, there are elaborate rituals, laws and regulations in place. In effect, controlling their pleasures is a way to control a person.

He describes four types of pleasure (which can be consciously considered when designing experiences):

Physio — anything sensory
Socio — anything that involves interacting with others.
Psycho — derived from accomplishing task
Ideo — relating to abstract experiences (watching movies, solving challenging problems)

Eccentric, intellectually engaging, not to mention hilarious in parts, Dr. Tiger explores the topic of pleasure from every angle: the moral, psychological, anthropological and even political.

It’s also the only book I’ve read which opens with a story of how the author first masturbated in an empty bath tub — “An act of theft from a gloomy culture that embargoed pleasure.”

Highly recommended. (The book that is.)

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