How Awe Brings Us Together
The Science of Happiness
PRX and Greater Good Science Center
4.4 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 5 January 2023
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Feeling awe changes your brain. In our first episode in a series about the science awe, we explore how awe can make you a better friend, partner, and community member.
Episode summary:
When Mirna Valerio tried out hiking for the first time as a young kid, she discovered something she didn’t expect: Being outdoors seemed to bring strangers closer to one another. It was like it somehow fastracked forming meaningful relationships. Today we know that the feeling of awe nature often inspires has something to do with this. Awe is the feeling you get when in the presence of something vast and incomprehensible. When we feel it, our sense of self shrinks – in a good way – and we get better at connecting with others. Today on The Science of Happiness, we explore what it’s like when awe helps us create communities, and the science behind how it works.
This episode is part of special series we’re doing on Awe. In the weeks ahead, we’ll share Happiness Breaks to help you contemplate what’s awe-inspiring in your life and explore more dimensions of awe in the stories and science we share on this podcast.
Our host, Dacher Keltner, has a new book out about awe. It’s called Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. Learn more here: https://tinyurl.com/3uzk8m5r
Practice: Awe Narrative
Think back to a time when you felt a sense of awe; when you were around something vast and incomprehensible. It could be something physically vast, like a mountain range or beautiful valley, or psychological, like a brilliant idea or inspiring person.
Describe the experience in writing in as much detail as possible. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar, just get down as much about the experience as you can.
Learn more about this practice at Greater Good In Action:
https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/awe_narrative
Today’s guests:
Mirna Valerio is an ultra-marathon athlete and author known for her body-positive presence on social media.
Follow Mirna on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themirnavator/?hl=en
Follow Mirna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheMirnavator
Follow Mirna on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMirnavator/
Yang Bai is a professor at Peking University in China.
Learn more about Bai and her work: https://en.gsm.pku.edu.cn/faculty/ybai/
Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:
Six Ways to Incorporate Awe Into Your Daily Life: https://tinyurl.com/3emucdez
How the Science of Awe Shaped Pixar’s “Soul:” https://tinyurl.com/37z43vrz
How a Sense of Awe Can Inspire Us to Confront Threats to Humanity: https://tinyurl.com/3k6xprau
More Resources About Awe
The Atlantic - The Quiet Profundity of Everyday Awe: https://tinyurl.com/yz623mff
NYT - How a Bit of Awe Can Improve Your Health: https://tinyurl.com/4zdzcusk
Sierra Club - The Science of Awe: https://tinyurl.com/3pfn23t7
Tell us about your experiences of awe. Email us at [email protected] or use the hashtag #happinesspod.
Help us share The Science of Happiness!
Leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/2p9h5aap
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I was speaking to and hiking with a group of students from Long Island a couple of weeks |
| 0:08.8 | ago. |
| 0:09.8 | As part of this really awesome camp program that they have that brings students from disadvantaged |
| 0:15.8 | like sort of economic backgrounds out to hike in the Adirondacks. |
| 0:21.1 | So we're going up the trail, it's hard, and they're like, oh, when are we going to get |
| 0:24.8 | there? |
| 0:25.8 | And it was only like a mile and a half up. |
| 0:28.1 | And with this sucks, there's so many bugs and my feet are wet and my shoes are dirty |
| 0:33.2 | and this and that. |
| 0:35.8 | But there are already becoming friends with these other kids that they hadn't really |
| 0:40.1 | known before, you know, the cracking jokes, you know, because that's what the outdoors |
| 0:45.1 | does to you, right? |
| 0:46.1 | Like you're immediately in community with other people. |
| 0:49.2 | And I think they're referred to it as like deep hanging out. |
| 0:52.8 | And it may be a really short experience, but it's very deep and it connects you to that |
| 0:56.2 | person forever. |
| 0:58.3 | So we finally get to the top and it's this 270 degree view of the Adirondacks. |
| 1:09.0 | And it was a little messy up there, but it was stunning and every single one of these students |
| 1:16.4 | took their phones out and started facetiming their family. |
| 1:23.0 | Mom, look at where I am. |
| 1:25.2 | Oh my goodness, mom, and then I would hear, yo, don't get too close to the edge. |
| 1:30.6 | Where are the adults, you know, but oh, that's so beautiful. |
... |
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