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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.