The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life
Ratings4
Average rating2.9
"Read this book to connect with your highest self.” —Susan Cain, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet and Quiet “We need more awe in our lives, and Dacher Keltner has written the definitive book on where to find it.” —Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again “Awe is awesome in both senses: a superb analysis of an emotion that is strongly felt but poorly understood, with a showcase of examples that remind us of what is worthy of our awe.” —Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of How the Mind Works and Rationality From a foremost expert on the science of emotions and consultant to Pixar’s Inside Out, a groundbreaking and essential exploration into the history, science, and greater understanding of awe 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? Up until fifteen years ago, there was no science of awe, the feeling we experience when we encounter vast mysteries that transcend our understanding of the world. Scientists were studying emotions like fear and disgust, emotions that seemed essential to human survival. Revolutionary thinking, though, has brought into focus how, through the span of evolution, we’ve met our most basic needs socially. We’ve survived thanks to our capacities to cooperate, form communities, and create culture that strengthens our sense of shared identity—actions that are sparked and spurred by awe. In 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. At turns radical and profound, brimming with enlightening and practical insights, Awe is our field guide, from not only one of the leading voices on the subject but a fellow seeker of awe in his own right, for how to place awe as a vital force within our lives.
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~~ Fyi, I made it about halfway before abandoning this book, so take this "review" with that in mind ~~
The emotion of awe is an interesting area to research, and the book had some cool insights into why we feel it as well as other fun psychology tidbits. The best part, though - the author's synthesis of thousands of awe-inducing experiences collected from around the world and the 8 common themes they boiled these down to, termed the "8 wonders of life" - came right at the beginning and I gradually lost interest from there. There seemed to me to be relatively frequent inconsistencies or stretches-of-the-truth in the interpretation of some of the studies' results, and other parts were just less rigorous than I'd hoped - it's definitely less so than something similar like The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker. Much of the book is filled with short excerpts of the thousands of stories, which can be enjoyable to read in their own right (and some indeed left me awed at times, too), but I was kind of hoping for a more theoretical treatment of the topic throughout, and this felt a little more like "feel good science" that's dumbed itself down a tad too much in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience and sacrificed its integrity in the process.
It's hard to write a book about awe, I think, that's...well, awesome.
Dacher Keltner gives it a go in his new book, Awe. He shares what he and a collaborator discovered from collecting stories of awe from people in twenty-six countries, what he calls the Eight Wonders of Life. So what most commonly led people around the world to feel awe?
(1) Other people's courage, kindness, strength, or overcoming.
(2) Collective effervescence. A term created by French sociologist Émile Durkheim that describes the feeling of buzzing and crackling with life force that merges people into a collective self, a tribe.
(3) Nature.
(4) Music.
(5) Visual design.
(6) Spiritual and religious awe.
(7) Stories of life and death.
(8) Epiphanies.
Keltner offers more details from his study of stories of awe, and then he tells stories of awe that he has heard.