WEBVTT

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[MUSIC]

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>> So the final
question in

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my last 6-7 minutes
is why awe?

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So what is awe?

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It's the feeling
of being around

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vast mysteries that
I don't understand.

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It is really its
own distinct state

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about exploring
and connecting.

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How does awe work?

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It really diminishes
my self focus,

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my anxieties and the like,

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and it really gets
me to explore

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the world and to connect

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to others and
build community.

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Why awe? And really,

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there are a couple
of ways that we

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can think about
this question.

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The first is really the
issue of resilience

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that Jeff used very

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wisely in the title
of the symposium,

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which is We Live in
a Stressed Out Time.

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The CDC is suggesting
that levels of anxiety

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and depression are 3-4
times their average.

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Stress had been rising in

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the United States
for the past

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25 years before COVID.

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It is an inflamed
time regrettably.

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Vivek Murthy, our
former Surgeon General,

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has a wonderful book
out suggesting that

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the most important
diseases in some sense,

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of the 21st century,

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are going to be diseases

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of things like loneliness,

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too much self focus.

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That what he calls
inflammation

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or the elevation of

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the parts of your
immune system.

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So our first answer
to the question

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of why awe is,

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as you will sense in the
today's proceedings,

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awe is an antidote.

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It's a way to change

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these stresses and meless

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of the 21st century.

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So here's some awe facts

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that you'll hear about.

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Around the world,
people feel

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awe a couple of
times a week.

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There is everyday
awe to be had.

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As Jeff said, you

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don't need to go to
the Eiffel Tower,

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you can find
it around you.

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And throughout
these proceedings,

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you will hear about how.

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About three-quarters
of our awe

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experiences feel good.

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They're rooted in

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reward circuitry
in your brain.

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They elevate the
vagus nerve,

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which we study in our lab,

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which helps you calm down,

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find meaning,
find strength.

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We also know that
feelings of awe,

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about three-quarters
of these

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positive experiences

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help you feel like you

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have more time in life.

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It reduces

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inflammation in
your immune system.

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It makes you more open

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to people, more
collaborative.

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You don't
polarize as much.

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You don't see
those people on

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the other political side
as your adversaries.

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You see some
common ground,

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a lot of positive
benefits for awe.

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And what you'll
hear about is

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all the ways in
which little doses

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of awe can help us with
the stresses of life.

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We just published
a paper led by

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Yang Bai and involving

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some of the presenters

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you'll hear from today.

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We just had people
find a little dose of

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awe without paying a dime,

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without emitting carbon
into the atmosphere.

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One of them was
they just climbed

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up to this tower on

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the Berkeley
campus and got

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a beautiful view
of the Bay Area,

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220 feet high in the sky.

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Just that five minutes of

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taking in an
expansive view led

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students to

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feel less stress in
their daily lives,

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less pressure, and to

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have enhanced happiness.

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This has been
replicated in

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all manner of studies.

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Awe reduces the stresses

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and difficulties
of living.