Prof examines the pleasure principle

About 100 people packed into Stiteler Hall yesterday to hear Daniel Kahneman discuss pleasure -- and pain. During his lecture, "Pleasure," Kahneman, a Princeton University Psychology professor, argued the unusual viewpoint that people do not often understand their own pleasure and pain. He noted, for example, that individuals frequently tend to focus only on the transition from a good condition to a bad condition, ignoring the final state. Parapalegics are less miserable than most people think, according to Kahneman, only because people do not think of actually being a paraplegic. Rather, he said, they think of the transition to being a paraplegic and as a result "exaggerate how horrible it is." Kahneman also discussed the stereotype that "Californians are happier" because of the state's mild climate. In reality, a study conducted by Kahneman found that Californians do not think they have better well-being than most Americans. The study surveyed students at two colleges in the Midwest and two in California and found that the groups considered themselves equally happy. The stereotype is due to the focus on transition, according to Kahneman. When people consider moving to California, the climate is a main issue, but once they live there, it is no longer so relevant, he explained. In evaluating past experiences, on the other hand, individuals focus only on the end of the episode and its peak level of pain or pleasure. Describing a study involving the surgical colonoscopy procedure, Kahneman asked patients to rate their level of pain. Those who had the most pain at the end of the procedure rated it much more uncomfortable than even those who experienced pain over a long period of time. This theory, Kahneman said, can be applied in modern medicine to make people feel better about their colonoscopies. Patients will dislike the procedure less if the procedure ends with a longer period of relative comfort. "Prolonging a colonoscopy can make people feel better about it," he noted. Citing these false assumptions, Kahneman ended his speech by stressing that "people aren't experts about the quality of their own experience." In introducing Kahneman, Penn Psychology Professor Paul Rozin described him as someone who "knows when to get rigorous and when to keep his mind open to a phenomenon." He called Kahneman's work "clever, fundamental, balanced." College sophomore Ilana Edelman added, "Even though I still think I can determine my own happiness, Dr. Kahneman opened up a new way of thinking about determining one's well-being."