Awe

Prepare to be captivated by 'Awe,' a journey into the surprisingly profound emotion that shapes our understanding of the world and our place within it. Through insightful stories and groundbreaking research, Dacher Keltner unveils awe as a fundamental human experience, one that connects us to nature, music, art, each other, and even the spiritual realm. This book promises to awaken your sense of wonder, revealing how awe can transform your relationships, heal your mind and body, and inspire acts of kindness and courage. Embark on an intellectual and emotional exploration that will leave you feeling more connected, more alive, and more appreciative of the beauty and mystery that surrounds us.

Dacher Keltner embarks on a quest to define and understand awe, an emotion often overlooked in scientific study. He recounts a pivotal moment with Paul Ekman, who suggested awe as a field of study, setting the stage for Keltner's exploration into the uncharted territories of human passion. The challenge, as Keltner explains, lies in awe's resistance to precise measurement and its orientation towards something beyond individual self-preservation. He and Jonathan Haidt define awe as the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends one's current understanding of the world, a definition rooted in mystical writings and anthropological accounts. Vastness, he notes, can be physical, temporal, or semantic, flavored by themes like virtue, supernatural beliefs, and perceived threat, all contributing to awe's myriad variations. Drawing from stories collected across twenty-six countries, Keltner unveils the eight wonders of life that commonly inspire awe: moral beauty, collective effervescence, nature, music, visual design, spirituality, life and death, and epiphanies. He vividly illustrates these wonders with anecdotes, from a daughter's strength in dealing with stillbirth to the collective pride at a Russian victory parade, and the humbling experience of seeing the ocean for the first time. Through computational analysis of emotional GIFs, Keltner demonstrates that awe occupies a unique space in our emotional landscape, distinct from fear and beauty, a revelation akin to discovering a hidden constellation in the night sky. He shares findings from daily diary studies, revealing that awe is an everyday emotion, experienced two to three times a week, often found in the ordinary moments of life. Keltner recounts a poignant memory of reviewing old family photos with his dying brother Rolf, a moment filled with fun, gratitude, and a sense of transcendent brotherhood, illustrating how awe connects us to something larger than ourselves. Ultimately, Keltner invites us to recognize and cultivate awe in our daily lives, transforming our mindset and our way of being in the world, a call to see the sacred in the mundane.

In this chapter, Dacher Keltner explores how awe reshapes our perception and interaction with the world, drawing inspiration from the film *Inside Out* to illustrate how emotions influence our understanding. Keltner begins by noting how awe, though ineffable, consistently leads to a dissolving of the self and a sense of connection to something larger, referencing Julian of Norwich's mystical experiences and Margaret Fuller's transcendence of gendered constraints. He explains that awe quiets what Aldous Huxley termed the 'interfering neurotic,' or what psychology refers to as the 'default self'—the part of us focused on distinctiveness, control, and competitive advantage. Keltner then transitions into research conducted in Yosemite National Park, revealing that individuals in awe-inspiring environments draw themselves smaller, symbolizing a diminished self-focus. Further experiments, such as those conducted at a paleontology museum with a T. rex skeleton, demonstrate that awe shifts self-definition from individual traits to shared qualities, fostering a sense of interconnectedness. The author recounts a study at the Campanile tower at UC Berkeley, where expansive views induced humility and an awareness of forces beyond personal control, akin to astronauts' 'overview effect.' Neuroimaging studies reveal that awe reduces activity in the default mode network, the brain region associated with egocentric processing, and can increase the connectivity between the DMN and regions associated with reward, suggesting that awe diminishes self-criticism and anxiety. Keltner then discusses how awe promotes saintly tendencies, expanding our circle of care and inspiring generosity and sacrifice, noting studies where participants feeling awe shared more resources and volunteered more time. Like William Herschel, who was moved by awe to map the stars, awe awakens wonder, leading to more rigorous thought and a deeper understanding of complex systems, transforming us from isolated individuals to interconnected beings within a larger community, a sentiment echoed in Walt Whitman's poetic celebration of shared existence. Thus, awe is not merely a fleeting emotion but a transformative force that diminishes the self, fosters wonder, and cultivates a sense of interconnectedness, counteracting today's epidemic of isolation and loneliness.

In this chapter of *Awe*, Dacher Keltner embarks on a quest to understand the profound connection between our bodies and the transcendent emotion of awe, guided by the insights of Charles Darwin and William James. He opens with a personal anecdote, recalling moments of intense emotion triggered by music, memories of a departed friend, and the sublime beauty of the Sierras, setting the stage for an exploration of tears, chills, and vocalizations as clues to awe's evolutionary origins. Keltner illuminates how tears, often viewed as a sign of sadness, can also signal a deep awareness of vast things that unite us, referencing Saint Francis's sacred tears and Alan Fiske's theory of communal sharing. Just as a child's cry connects them to caregivers, adult tears connect us to shared cultural experiences and abstract ideals. He then turns to chills, recounting Claire Tolan's experience with ASMR as a means of finding comfort and connection in a new city, suggesting that these bodily sensations are registers of feeling close to loved ones and the sounds of home. Drawing on William James's concept of embodiment, Keltner explains how our mental life is intertwined with our corporeal frame, with chills acting as signals of joining with others to face the unknown. He distinguishes between cold shivers, associated with horror and alienation, and goosebumps, linked to a sense of community and awe. Further, Keltner explores the evolutionary roots of these responses, tracing them back to mammalian huddling behavior in the face of cold and peril, revealing that goosebumps and huddling fostered connection. Finally, Keltner examines the universal expression of awe through vocal bursts like "whoa," citing Paul Bear Vasquez's viral double rainbow video as a prime example. Across cultures, people express awe with raised eyebrows, smiles, jaw drops, and head tilts, signaling a shared recognition of life's wonders. Before language, these vocalizations served as a primary means of uniting communities in the face of vast mysteries. Keltner concludes by highlighting how culture archives awe through language, symbols, music, and art, transforming bodily expressions into shared aesthetic experiences. Robert Hass's exploration of awe in literature, from Sophocles to Emily Dickinson, demonstrates how art allows us to grapple with human horrors and connect with fundamental truths. Ultimately, awe allows us to transcend ourselves and integrate into larger patterns of community, nature, and ideas, with tears and chills serving as physical markers of this profound connection. It is a dance between the body and the soul, each informing the other in a symphony of human experience.

In his exploration of awe, Dacher Keltner directs our attention to San Quentin State Prison, a place seemingly devoid of the sublime, yet teeming with untold stories of moral beauty. He recounts his visit to give a talk on restorative justice, initially questioning the relevance of awe within such harsh confines. However, Keltner soon discovers that even in the depths of incarceration, awe finds expression in the simplest of human connections: a daughter, a song, a shared moment of faith. The author reveals the profound insight that awe isn't a luxury reserved for the privileged, but a fundamental human need, often most keenly felt by those with the least. He shares poignant anecdotes of prisoners finding solace and inspiration in acts of kindness, courage, and overcoming adversity, illustrating how moral beauty can transform lives, even behind bars. Keltner introduces us to Steven Czifra, whose life was turned around by a knowing librarian who gave him access to Shakespeare. It is a testament to the power of literature and human connection. The author illuminates the story of Leif Hass, a doctor caring for the unhoused, who finds himself awestruck by a patient’s simple desire to make others happy, a sentiment that challenges our preconceptions about happiness and resilience. Keltner emphasizes that witnessing moral beauty activates specific regions of the brain, releasing oxytocin and engaging the vagus nerve, creating a sense of connection and reverence. He recounts the story of Yuyi Morales, an immigrant who found solace and inspiration in a public library, transforming her loneliness into a celebrated career as a children's book author, a powerful reminder of the transformative power of access and kindness. He further explores how acts of reverence, both subtle and profound, deepen our appreciation for moral beauty, creating interconnected webs of kindness and compassion. Keltner concludes with the story of Louis Scott, a prisoner transformed by restorative justice, who now brings peace and awareness to others, underscoring the belief that every person is capable of change, healing, and restoration. Ultimately, Keltner suggests that our moral compass isn't solely guided by abstract principles, but by the awe we experience in witnessing the wonders of others, a beacon of hope shining even in the darkest of places, reminding us that even in the face of profound adversity, the human spirit can find and create beauty, offering a path towards healing and connection.

In this chapter, Dacher Keltner explores the phenomenon of collective effervescence—that electric exaltation we feel when moving together, a concept first introduced by Émile Durkheim. He begins with Radha Agrawal's transformative experience at Burning Man, a crucible of collective awe, which led her to create Daybreaker, a global movement of morning dance parties. Keltner, witnessing Daybreaker firsthand, observes how it addresses our modern disconnection and loneliness, activating our brains' social centers and inflammation responses. He explains how moving in unison, as seen in human waves at sports games or the coordinated chaos of mosh pits, is deeply ingrained in us, from infants mirroring adults to fans' heart rhythms synchronizing at games. This synchrony dissolves the boundaries between self and other, fostering a sense of collective identity. Keltner highlights psychologist Michael Tomasello's work, noting how shared attention and synchronized social behaviors cultivate a shared perspective, transforming individual emotions into collective understanding, particularly after traumatic events. The author emphasizes that the instinct to move in unison is a human universal, evident in rituals like funerals and graduations, where individual selves merge into larger narratives. He then pivots to walking, perhaps the simplest form of unison, detailing how our upright posture opened us to vast vistas and collective movement, shaping our migrations and food-sharing practices. Keltner introduces the 'awe walk,' a practice developed with Virginia Sturm, encouraging us to tap into our childlike wonder and connect with the environment. Studies showed that elderly participants who engaged in regular awe walks experienced increased happiness, reduced anxiety, and a diminished sense of self, replaced by a greater awareness of their surroundings. The narrative shifts to Steve Kerr, coach of the Golden State Warriors, whose philosophy of movement extends beyond basketball strategy to encompass moral beauty and the integration of diverse talents. Keltner underscores how sports and games ritualize our everyday unison, uniting communities in shared effervescence. Finally, Keltner delves into dance, tracing its historical significance as a symbolic language of awe, suppressed in the West but now being revitalized. He references the Natyashastra, detailing how specific movements express emotions, including awe. Keltner concludes by emphasizing that dance, like sports and music, documents awe and allows us to communicate about the sublime, fostering a porous intermingling of bodies and minds.

Dacher Keltner explores the profound connection between awe, nature, and healing, suggesting that awe serves as a potent antidote to the inflammation caused by chronic stress and social isolation in our modern lives. The author begins by detailing research that links everyday awe to lower levels of inflammation, measured by the biomarker Interleukin 6, or IL 6, highlighting how awe, unlike social threats, fosters a sense of community and broader perspective. He introduces Stacy Bare, a veteran whose experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan led to chronic inflammation and a search for healing, finding solace and transformation through outdoor activities like climbing. Keltner then draws a line from Bare's experiences back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's epiphany about the corrupting influence of civilization and the restorative power of nature, a moment that birthed Romanticism. The narrative then shifts to Ralph Waldo Emerson's experience in the Jardin des Plantes, where he felt a dissolving of boundaries between himself and other living beings, recognizing an underlying life force that unites all. Keltner introduces the concept of biophilia, E.O. Wilson's term for the love of life and living systems, and argues for a biological need for wild awe, akin to our needs for food, water, and social connection, emphasizing how children naturally seek awe in outdoor exploration. The author then recounts a study on the American River, where rafting trips reduced stress and PTSD symptoms in both teenagers from under-resourced communities and veterans, with awe being the key factor in these benefits. Emerson's notion of mean egotism is then examined, with studies showing that even brief experiences of awe can diminish feelings of entitlement and narcissism, fostering clearer reasoning and less polarized views. Finally, Keltner explores the spiritual dimension of awe in nature, noting how it can lead to a sense of the Divine and a return to traditional ecological knowledge, fostering reverence for the natural world. The chapter culminates with a personal reflection on Keltner's own experiences of awe in the Alps after his brother's passing, suggesting that awe offers not only healing but also a profound connection to something larger than oneself, a reminder of the wonders and mysteries that lie ahead, like light revealing a spectrum of color, which astonishes.

In this chapter, Dacher Keltner explores the profound connection between music, awe, and community, opening with the story of Yumi Kendall, a cellist who perceives the world through musical forms, illustrating how deeply music can be embedded in one's being. He reveals that lullabies, for instance, create early embodied ideas about community, shifting a child’s physiology towards connection. Keltner reflects on how musical awe transcends gender and racial biases, citing Yo-Yo Ma's influence on Yumi. Delving into the science, Keltner unpacks how music stirs awe by opening our bodies to its neurophysiological profile, triggering shivers and tears—bodily signs of merging with others. He shares that music offers clarity and illuminates life patterns, teaching us about love, suffering, and justice. Keltner illustrates this with Yumi's experience playing Mozart's Requiem after her grandfather's death, where music became a conduit for grief and connection. He explains Susanne Langer's theory that the arts objectify feeling, representing our experience of life patterns in a symbolic realm, freed from the constraints of language. Keltner then unpacks Klaus Scherer’s research, revealing how music mirrors the acoustics of our vocal expressions of emotion, triggering embodied images and memories. He highlights that when we listen to music together, our brains synchronize, breaking down boundaries and uniting us in shared awe. The chapter closes with Diana Gameros's return to Mexico, where she found musical awe in the voices, colors, and sounds of her homeland, illustrating how music locates us within a collective identity. Ultimately, Keltner suggests, musical awe allows us to recognize our individual selves within something larger, offering a sense of belonging and immense happiness—a cashmere blanket of sound that embraces us all.

In this chapter, Dacher Keltner explores how visual art evokes awe, guiding us beyond our selfish obsessions to appreciate the excellence in the world. He begins with Michael Frederickson, a Pixar artist whose initial awe at *Jurassic Park* propelled him into a career crafting visual wonders, revealing that art transcends our default consciousness, leading to a love for what is meaningful. Keltner recounts his own experience at the Louvre, initially unmoved until encountering the Dutch masters, particularly Pieter de Hooch, whose paintings opened his eyes to everyday awe, a mathematics of moral beauty found in mundane moments. Neuroaesthetics, Keltner explains, highlights how art moves us through visual patterns, conceptual triggers, embodied experiences, and reimagined realities, stimulating our brains to ponder our place in the cosmos. The author then pivots to microscopic awe, introducing photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher, who captures sacred geometries in snowflakes, bees' eyes, and even tears, showing that art reveals unifying geometries of life. Fisher's photographs of tears, born from personal grief and gratitude, visualize pain, capturing the pull between attachment and release, thus documenting the geometries of our social lives. Keltner emphasizes that visual art hints at vast mysteries, contrasting beauty, which arises from familiarity, with awe, which stems from recognizing the powerful, obscure, and dreadful. He draws on Edmund Burke’s ideas to illustrate how art, through perceived profusion, repetition, and subversion of expectations, suggests expansive causal forces, allowing us to transcend ordinary perceptions. Keltner then discusses how art provides direct perception, enabling us to see the world through lenses of emotions—grief, tenderness, depression—and highlights Rebecca Stone’s work on Mesoamerican art, which preserves mystical awe cultivated through shamanism. Finally, Keltner explores shock and awe through the work of Susan Crile, whose paintings capture the horrors of war and torture, and Leda Ramos, who archives the immigrant experience, revealing that art allows us to contemplate horrors and imagine social change. He concludes with Steven Spielberg’s life of visual awe, highlighting how Spielberg’s early experiences with film and meteor showers shaped his career, underscoring that we are all equal in awe, and visual art continues to shock and awe people into new ways of seeing the world, promoting cultural evolution.

In this chapter, Dacher Keltner explores the profound connection between awe and spiritual life, suggesting that our encounters with the Divine are deeply rooted in the human experience of awe. He begins with Reverend Jen Bailey's story, highlighting her concept of "composting religion"—a process of decay, distilling, and growth where traditional religious frameworks break down, allowing for the emergence of a more personal and inclusive spirituality, much like the transformation of raw materials into nourishing humus. The author then introduces Malcolm Clemens Young, who, inspired by Emerson's call to let religious dogma decay, finds awe in everyday moments and ministers to others during life's most intimate experiences, underscoring that the essence of spirituality lies not in dogma but in shared human connection. Keltner delves into William James's quest for the "fundamental cosmical IT," or mystical awe, and his belief in the necessity of redeeming the wild and untamed aspects of the universe through personal experience, even experimenting with nitrous oxide to break down the anxieties of the default self. He notes that James's work revealed the pathways to mystical awe are nearly infinite, and that mystical awe often originates in inexplicable experiences that transcend expectations, leading to the construction of beliefs and stories about the Divine. The narrative shifts to Yuria Celidwen's near-death experience, a nekyia, which reflects the cycle of decay, distilling, and growth, ultimately leading her to a life dedicated to Indigenous rights and preserving sacred spaces. Keltner discusses how religious and spiritual practices grow from our collective effort to make sense of life's mysteries, with awe-related vocalizations becoming sacred sounds and movements evolving into religious ceremonies, creating a shared physiology and a sense of interconnectedness. He then examines Bob Jesse's work with psychedelics, revealing how these experiences can reliably produce mystical awe by deactivating the DMN and freeing individuals from threat-vigilance, leading to greater openness, altruism, and connection. Finally, Nipun Mehta's awe walk in India illustrates how witnessing, accepting, loving, and knowing oneself in the face of profound simplicity and human connection can lead to a deep sense of the Divine, transforming scarcity mindsets into experiences of abundance and interconnectedness; the author leaves us with a vision of individuals dissolving into the bright sky, surrounded and embraced, redeeming something wild and kind in the universe, a reminder that awe is the foundation of spiritual growth and connection.

In this chapter of *Awe*, Dacher Keltner explores how experiences of awe, particularly surrounding birth and death, profoundly shape our understanding of life's cyclical nature. He begins by highlighting the universal human experience of awe at the beginning of life, noting how childbirth inspires feelings of wonder, connection, and moral beauty across diverse cultures. Keltner explains how the premature nature of human infants necessitates intensive caregiving, triggering a synchronized neurophysiology in parents, marked by elevated oxytocin levels and activation of the MPOA, fostering deep connection, and shared attention. He notes that the arrival of a child often awakens a 'nesting instinct,' creating homes that serve as cultural archives of awe, filled with music, lullabies, and images that introduce children to a culture's ways of experiencing wonder. Keltner then shifts to the other end of the life cycle, discussing how death, often overmedicalized and removed from natural contexts, can also be a source of awe. Drawing on the work of Roshi Joan Halifax, Keltner emphasizes the importance of 'being with dying'—approaching death with openness, bearing witness to the experience of the dying, and acting with compassion. He shares stories of near-death experiences (NDEs) where individuals report a vanishing of their default selves, merging with a larger, benevolent consciousness, and experiencing transcendent emotions like compassion and love. Ultimately, Keltner suggests that through awe-inspiring experiences surrounding birth and death, we can transcend our limited perspectives, connect with something larger than ourselves, and find meaning in the cyclical nature of existence, like standing in a cemetery in Kyoto, feeling the gentle breezes and warming sun, sensing a connection to loved ones who have passed.

In this chapter, Dacher Keltner embarks on a quest to understand the essence of awe, beginning with Charles Darwin, a figure whose own emotions profoundly influenced his scientific breakthroughs. The initial tension arises from Darwin's apparent avoidance of the word "awe," possibly due to its religious connotations and potential conflict with his devout wife. Keltner consults Frank Sulloway, a Darwin scholar, who suggests that the term's infrequent usage in the 19th century might be the reason, yet Darwin undeniably experienced awe, particularly through music, art, and nature. Keltner describes Darwin's epiphany, viewing a "tangled bank" of life, leading to his understanding of evolution. This epiphany embodies awe's familiar unfolding: wonder, vastness, mystery, and kindness, revealing the profound interdependence of species. Keltner then posits that awe, at its core, reveals that "we are part of something larger than ourselves," connecting us to systems. The author explains that this concept is difficult to articulate, often requiring abstraction, metaphor, or mystical language. The chapter resolves by explaining how awe allows us to perceive these underlying systems, from moral beauty to the natural world, music, art, religion, and life itself. Keltner argues that systems thinking, an ancient and Indigenous concept, helps us understand the deep structures of life's wonders, shifting our minds from separateness to interdependence. Awe, therefore, integrates us into these systems, offering a glimpse into the profound questions of existence and our place within the grand tapestry of life, like threads interwoven in an intricate design.

Keltner's 'Awe' illuminates this powerful emotion as fundamental to human experience, not a rare luxury. Awe, born from encounters with vastness and the unknown, connects us to something larger than ourselves, diminishing self-focus and fostering interconnectedness. The book reveals eight awe-inspiring wonders: moral beauty, collective effervescence, nature, music, visual design, spirituality, life/death, and epiphanies, demonstrating awe's accessibility in everyday life. Tears and chills are redefined as embodied signals of profound connection. Cultivating awe through art, music, and shared experiences counters loneliness and stress, promoting well-being. The book underscores that wealth doesn't guarantee awe; moral beauty and simple acts of kindness are more potent sources. Collective effervescence, achieved through synchronized movement and shared attention, dissolves boundaries and fosters empathy. Nature, a powerful awe-generator, heals trauma and reduces egotism. Music fosters early connections and illuminates life's patterns, while art transcends selfishness, revealing beauty in the ordinary. Spirituality grows from awe, transforming religious beliefs into personal practices. Birth and death, approached with openness, offer profound connection and transcendence. Awe reveals our interconnectedness within larger systems, fostering holistic understanding. Ultimately, 'Awe' inspires a shift from self-centeredness to a broader sense of connection, promoting generosity, collaboration, and a deeper appreciation for the wonders of life.