Awe

seventy years after Virginia Woolf's musing.

Ekman, though, would soon publish a paper-now the most widely cited in the field-that would push the scientific pendulum firmly toward emotion. In this essay, a field guide really, he detailed the what of emotions: They are brief feeling states accompanied by distinct thoughts, expressions, and physiology. Emotions are fleeting, shorter-lived than moods, like feeling blue, and emotional disorders, such as depression. He outlined how emotions work: they shift our thought and action to enable us to adapt to our present circumstances. To approach the why of emotions, Ekman took a cue from Charles Darwin: Emotions enable us to accomplish "fundamental life tasks," such as fleeing peril, avoiding toxins, and finding nutritious food. Emotions are central to our individual survival and our evolution as a species.

A young science had a field guide, and scholars promptly went exploring. First, scientists mapped anger, disgust, fear, sadness, surprise, and joy, the emotions whose facial expressions Ekman had documented in the hills of New Guinea in the early 1960s. Next to appear in the lab were the self-conscious emotions-embarrassment, shame, and guilt. Studies charted how these states arise when we make social mistakes, and how blushes, head bows, awkward appeasing smiles, and apologies restore our standing in the eyes of others. Sensing that there is more to the mind, brain, and body than negative emotions, and more to the delights of life than "joy," young scientists then turned to studies of states like amusement, gratitude, love, and pride. My own lab got into the act with studies of laughter, gratitude, love, desire, and sympathy.

An emotion revolution in reaction to the cognitive revolution was underway, moving psychological science beyond its dry and cool cognitivist account of the mind and inattention to the body. Neuroscientists were mapping "the em

Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again

Your goosebumps when you listen to Beethoven; your wonder as you behold the Grand Canyon; your amazement at the sheer perfection of a baby s tiny foot. You ve probably sensed that such moments of awe are some of the most profound experiences ever to happen to you. But if you ve ever wondered where these moments come from, what they mean, and how to experience them more often: there is no better guide than Dacher Keltner, the great and wise Berkeley psychologist. Read this book to connect with your highest self. Susan Cain, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet and Quiet
 
Twenty years of insight about awe. Whoa! On every continent and in every imaginable religion. Wow. Intensely personal, recognizably collective, and utterly universal, Keltner s stories and science of awe are inspired. Awe merges us with systems larger than self nature, music, art, spirit, morality, collectives, life and death. We are better for Keltner s account. Read it. Aahhh. Susan T. Fiske, co-author of Social Cognition and author of Envy Up, Scorn Down

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
 
An engaging and insightful exploration of the ordinary magic that connects us to the world, to each other, and to the meanings of our lives. The science of wow has finally arrived. Daniel Gilbert, Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, author of the New York Times bestseller Stumbling on Happiness, and host of the PBS television series This Emotional Life
 
It is rare for a book to dive into a single emotion to analyze it from every possible angle. Dacher Keltner s expertise makes it a fascinating and stimulating journey to recognize awe as a mysterious force in our lives. Frans de Waal, author of Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist
 
Through powerful and compelling stories of transformation and passion, Keltner expertly introduces us to feel the mighty emotion of AWE something we all need more of in our lives. Pete Docter, director of Monsters, Inc., Up, Soul, and Inside Out
 
A researcher who has taught us new ways to think about generosity and cooperation has turned his attention to one of the most understudied emotions of all, Awe. Eye-opening and mind expanding. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, author of Mother Nature and Mothers and Others: The Origins of Mutual Understanding

This extraordinary book explores the power of awe and amazement in our lives and in the life of this world. It reveals the gift of awe from the perspectives of science, the self, and society. Written with passion and clarity, it is a book that itself nourishes awe and turns us toward our lives with fresh eyes and an open heart. Roshi Joan Halifax, Abbot, Upaya Zen Center
 
Our troubling times, our clickbait media, even our own habits of mind, blanket our consciousness with the negative and threatening in life. This book is a counter force. Powerful, erudite, rooted in brilliant research, but always fascinatingly accessible, it uplifts the wonderful in life. From the beauty of movement in sports to the moral courage of a friend, it s a guide to how to see and experience the wonder that is always all around us. It balances consciousness. It has been a long time since I ve read anything as inspiring. I d say race to read it. You won t be disappointed. Prof. Claude M. Steele, Lucie Stern Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Stanford University

Dacher Keltner has written a deeply personal, scientifically brilliant treatise on an emotion he convinces us we need to experience more often in our daily lives. Richard E. Nisbett, author of Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking