Why Your Brain Needs Awe and Wonder with Dr. Dacher Keltner
February 27, 2025
AI Summary
5 min readIn 2021, William Shatner returned from his suborbital space flight and, in an interview, was visibly ecstatic and transformed. He insisted that everyone on Earth should experience what he had just felt. That feeling, which he struggled to put into words, is the subject of decades of research by Dr. Dacher Keltner, a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and director of the Greater Good Science Center. In this conversation with Dr. Heather Berlin and Dr. Christoph Koch, Keltner explains what awe is, how it works in the body and brain, and why it matters for well-being.
What Awe Is and Where to Find It
Keltner defines awe as an emotion—a distinct, felt state—that arises when we encounter something vast and mysterious, something that stretches beyond our usual frame of reference. The two core ingredients are perceived vastness and a need to accommodate that experience, to update our mental models of the world. This definition emerged from a major research effort in which Keltner’s lab collected and coded stories of awe from 26 countries, worried that a purely Western view would miss something essential.
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What you'll learn
- 1 Timestamped Outline
- 2 (00:00) **Opening & Host Introductions** - Elizabeth Coke, Dr. Heather Berlin, and Dr. Christoph Koch introduce the podcast's theme of the "perception box" and today's guest.
- 3 (02:37) **Personal Awe Stories from the Hosts** - Christoph and Heather share their own experiences of awe before turning to Keltner.
- 4 (04:05) **Defining Awe** - Keltner provides a working definition of awe as an emotion.
- 5 (05:16) **Where Awe is Found Across Cultures** - Keltner's lab gathered awe stories from 26 countries to map the emotion's sources.
- 6 (07:09) **The Physiology of Awe** - Keltner explains the bodily markers that accompany awe.
- 7 (08:53) **Self-Transcendence as the Core of Awe** - Keltner explains that the fundamental purpose of awe is to quiet self-interest.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
When was the last time you felt absolutely mesmerized by something beautiful? Whether it’s seeing a breathtaking vista, losing yourself in a piece of music, or being in a crowd cheering for the same team, the feeling of awe can be all-encompassing and expansive. This week on Science of Perception Box, Dr. Dacher Keltner, one of the world’s foremost emotion scientists and a scientific advisor behind Pixar’s Inside Out, shares how we can cultivate more awe in our life and why we need this sometimes overlooked emotion.
Dr. Keltner is a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and the faculty director of the Greater Good Science Center. He has over 200 scientific publications and six books, including Born to Be Good, The Compassionate Instinct, and The Power Paradox. Dr. Keltner is involved with the education of health care providers and judges and has consulted extensively for Google, Apple, and Pinterest on issues related to emotion and well-being.
Dr. Heather Berlin is a neuroscientist, clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Icahn School Of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
Dr. Christof Koch is Chief Scientist for The Tiny Blue Dot Foundation as well as the current Meritorious investigator and Former President of the Allen Institute For Brain Science.
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Episode Chapters:
(00:00) - Introduction
(01:35) - Exploring the Concept of Awe
(02:33) - Personal Experiences of Awe
(04:05) - Defining and Studying Awe
(05:00) - Awe Across Cultures
(07:02) - Physiological and Emotional Aspects of Awe
(12:34) - Awe in Animals and Evolution
(16:34) - Awe and Mental Health
(20:31) - Babies in Tunnels: A Surprising Reaction
(21:10) - The Role of Novelty in Experiencing Awe
(22:29) - Cynicism vs. Awe: A Battle of Perspectives
(23:29) - Digital Technology and Artificial Awe
(24:27) - Awe and PTSD: Healing Through Nature
(27:16) - The Complexity of Awe: Positive and Negative Emotions
(31:30) - Finding Awe in Everyday Life
(34:37) - The Power of Awe in Difficult Times
(37:38) - Final Thoughts and Reflections
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