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"Why Awe?" with Dacher Keltner

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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.
Title:
"Why Awe?" with Dacher Keltner
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Duration:
04:03

English subtitles

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