Awe is mysterious. How do we begin to quantify the goose bumps we feel when we see the Grand Canyon, or the utter amazement when we watch a child walk for the first time? How do you put into words the collective effervescence of standing in a crowd and singing in unison, or the wonder you feel while gazing at centuries-old works of art?
In this conversation based on his new book Awe, Dacher Keltner presents a radical investigation and deeply personal inquiry into this elusive emotion. Revealing new research into how awe transforms our brains and bodies, alongside an examination of awe across history, culture, and within his own life during a period of grief, Keltner shows us how cultivating awe in our everyday life leads us to appreciate what is most humane in our human nature. And during a moment in which our world feels more divided than ever before, and more imperiled by crises of different kinds, we are greatly in need of awe. If we open our minds, it is awe that sharpens our reasoning and orients us toward big ideas and new insights, that cools our immune system’s inflammation response and strengthens our bodies. It is awe that activates our inclination to share and create strong networks, to take actions that are good for the natural and social world around us. It is awe that transforms who we are, that inspires the creation of art, music, and religion. Aweis also a field guide for how to place awe as a vital force within our lives.
Shermer and Keltner discuss: the death of his brother and how this led to his study of awe • an operational definition of awe • the reliability (or unreliability) of self-report data in social science • how to quantify and measure the experience of awe • What are emotions and how can they be measured? • How has the scientific understanding of emotions changed? • predictors of awe: nature, music, art, dance, movement/exercise, love & friendships • awe in moral beauty • how to train yourself to experience awe • how awe helps heal traumas, grief, and loneliness • mystical experiences, spirituality, and awe restorative justice and awe.
Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the faculty director of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. A renowned expert in the science of human emotion, Dr. Keltner studies compassion and awe, how we express emotion, and how emotions guide our moral identities and search for meaning. His research interests also span issues of power, status, inequality, and social class. He is the author of The Power Paradox and the bestselling book Born to Be Good, and the coeditor of The Compassionate Instinct. His new book is Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life.
262. Oliver Stone on Ukraine, Putin, and the Military-Industrial Complex
261. Jim Al-Khalili on the Joy of Science
260. Batya Ungar-Sargon — Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy
259. Ogi Ogas — Journey of the Mind: How Thinking Emerged from Chaos
258. Jacek Kugler — Putin & Power Transition Theory: China, Russia, and Ukraine
257. Simon Conway Morris on Design in Evolution & the Possibility of Purpose in the Cosmos
256. Imagining the Future with Reality Game Designer and Futurist Jane McGonigal
255. David Chalmers — Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy
254. Ravi Gupta on the Lost Debate: Whatever Happened to Reasoned Discussion and Respectable Disagreement?
253. Jennifer Sciubba on Putin, Russia, Ukraine, National & Global Security, and How Population Demographics Shape Our Future
252. John Mueller on Putin’s War: Russia, Ukraine, and NATO
251. Kelly Weill on Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything
250. Will Sanctions Work? War in Ukraine.
249. Barbara F. Walter on How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them, including in the United States
248. Elizabeth Weiss on Woke Archaeology and Erasing the Past
247. Jacob Mchangama on Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media
246. Nick Pope on UAPs, UFOs, Conspiracies, and Cover-ups
245. Frank Sulloway on How Lives Turn Out: Genes, Environment, Pluck, and Luck
244. Johnjoe McFadden — Life is Simple: How Occam’s Razor Set Science Free and Shapes the UniverseMcFadden — Life is Simple: How Occam’s Razor Set Science Free and Shapes the Universe
243. Sally Satel on Addiction, the Opioid Crisis, Deaths of Despair, and How Psychiatry Has Gone Woke
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Daily
Sasquatch Chronicles
Radiolab
The Confessionals
Sasquatch Odyssey