The Power of Awe and Our Collective Future
On May 25th, George Floyd was killed by a police officer whose knee on his neck made it impossible for him to breathe. Five days later, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried two astronauts into space, the first time an American launch vehicle had done so in 11 years. The first of these was awful and the second awesome. In generating awe, they both remind us of the power and potential of that emotion.
Defined as “an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc. produced by that which is grand, sublime, or extremely powerful,” awe can be pleasurable or painful, as the reaction to the SpaceX launch and George Floyd’s death demonstrate. Positive awe is produced by beautiful and inspiring scenes or events in nature, religion, space exploration, the arts and other fields. Negative or threat-induced awe is often generated by natural tragedies or demonstrations of human evil.
The reactions to what we label awesome and awful share similarities. Dacher Keltner and Jonathan Haidt define awe as produced by a sense of perceived vastness, something beyond the scale of normal human expectation and perception and producing the need to change basic mental structures and beliefs as a result. Both types of awe-inducing events make us feel small in the face of something beyond us. But there are differences in the psychological reactions the two types of awe produce.
Experiments show the smallness we feel in the face of positive awe experiences is associated with feelings of humility, optimism, compassion, and connectedness to others. As Paul Piff and colleagues found, positive awe is also linked to more ethical behavior, reduced use of cognitive shortcuts in processing information, and generosity. Such experiences are also associated with positive effects on health, such as reduced inflammation and greater reported well-being. Those who have felt wonder during a walk in the forest, a violin sonata, or the smiling of a baby experience this.
The diminishment we feel in threat-based awe, based on research by Amie Gordon and Jennifer Stellar, leads to a reduced sense of control and a feeling of powerlessness. Such experiences make us feel uncertain, fearful, and lower our sense of well-being. They produce physical effects associated with the fight or flight response, such as increased activation of the sympathetic nervous system (e.g. increased heart rate, blood pressure). Other research links this kind of awe to feelings of disgust.
In our personal lives, Gordon and Stellar found that up to 80 percent of our awe experiences are positive. But that may not be the case in our national lives. In the United States, threat-based awe associated with powerful leaders we distrust, extremism, racial injustice, and COVID19, for example, seems much more prevalent.
Yet, the downside of threat-based awe can be contained and put to productive use if well-managed. Fear, a sense of powerlessness and disgust can produce anger, as happened across the nation in response to the killing of George Floyd and so many others. Anger, if channeled into prosocial action can bring about helpful change, perhaps even positive-awe-inducing change. Of course, anger, ill-managed, can lead to the destruction of health, lives and property and thus produce more and damaging threat-based awe.
The benefits of positive awe argue for generating more of it. Taking time in our personal lives to experience nature, the arts, and other wonders, both man-made and natural, that surround and astound us is a worthy investment. Many have discovered this during coronavirus shutdowns - walking outdoors, listening to musicians playing from their porches, and spending time with loved ones, time that was so hard to find when lives were so much busier. Experiencing such awe, however, is not something to do only when we have the time. Making time for it is a healthy way of living and being part of a connected community.
In our national lives, one objective of governments and national leaders should be to foster opportunities for positive awe. Space exploration, the creation of national parks and monuments, the construction of beautiful buildings, public sculpture and support of the arts and humanities all contribute. So do supporting opportunities for service, which allow Americans to connect with others and experience the beauty of contributing to something beyond themselves.
Governments and national organizations can also respond to threat-based awe by channeling the fear and sense of powerlessness into constructive social change. Engaging citizens in adaptive responses can lead to the diminishment of threats and feelings of compassion, generosity, optimism and connectedness so essential to a vibrant society. We’ve seen this in the public response to hurricanes, for example, but we could also see it in response to problems such as poverty, racism, and the loneliness of the elderly and isolated among us.
Experiencing awe reminds us of our place in the universe – and of what we owe ourselves and others. Positive awe is both a gift and a necessity of existence.
Photo Credit: Carol Donsky Newell
