Twenty years into teaching happiness, Dacher Keltner has now found his answer: find awe. He discusses his book, "Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life" and explains why we need it and how we can find more of it.
The reason I'm circling back is because Ruth, my partner in life, watched the interview to which Isaac referred (she is an excellent Mom) and was impressed, so we watched it together. I found it fascinating but as it progressed I commented that there was nothing about religion. Ruth reassured me that we would get there.
Sure enough, the last exchange between Keltner and Paikin touched on the importance of religion as one of the universal wellsprings of awe. Keltner does observe that religion can get in the way of experiencing awe and wonder when it becomes rigid, ideological, "us and them." I have to agree.
I couldn't resist the image above because Ruth loves sleeping in a hammock while camping to enjoy the night sky. A couple of summers ago she canoe-camped with a group of women friends and was in her hammock when a massive thunderstorm rolled through (she had the fly on and stayed dry). She was definitely awestruck but fortunately not lightning-struck.
As I mentioned on Monday, I already had Keltner's book on reserve at the library so it will be interesting to see if he goes any further with religion and spiritual experience. Here is the transcript of the end of the interview and the link to the episode:
Steve replies,
AMEN, BROTHER.
WELL, SPEAKING OF AMEN, BROTHER.
HOW ABOUT RELIGION?
COULD WE HAVE RELIGION TODAY
WITHOUT AWE?
Dacher answers,
YEAH, I THINK WE COULD AND,
YOU KNOW, BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW,
IT WAS SUCH AN INTERESTING
THING, WE'VE FOUND IN TWENTY-SIX
COUNTRIES THAT THERE ARE
UNIVERSALS TO THE SOURCES OF
AWE, LIKE NATURE AND BEAUTY AND
MUSIC, AND ALSO RELIGION, VERY
OBVIOUSLY.
IT'S A HUMAN UNIVERSAL TO BELIEVE IN
THE DIVINE.
AND THERE ARE CERTAIN THEORISTS
WHO REALLY WERE ANIMATED BY YOUR
QUESTION AND MADE THE CASE THAT
AWE IS THE CORE TO RELIGION.
EMILE DURKHEIM, THE GREAT FRENCH
SOCIOLOGIST, FELT IT WAS ABOUT
MOVING IN UNISON WHEN WE'RE
SINGING TOGETHER, DOING THE
RITUALS OF RELIGIONS, RIGHT?
THAT BRINGS US INTO A MOVEMENT
OF TOGETHERNESS THAT JUST
PRODUCES THIS ECSTATIC AWE
FEELING.
THAT'S OUR SENSE OF THE DIVINE.
AND THEN WILLIAM JAMES, THE
GREAT AMERICAN PHILOSOPHER, IN
THE EARLY 1900S, MADE THE SAME
CASE FOLLOWING RALPH WALDO
EMERSON, THAT AT ITS CORE
RELIGION IS ABOUT THESE
SELF-TRANSCENDENT EMOTIONS,
BLISS, AWE, JOY, LOVE OF
HUMANITY, WHERE THE SELF
DISSOLVES AND YOU DEVOTE
YOURSELF TO SERVICE AND TO OTHER
PEOPLE AND TO THE DIVINE.
AND THERE ARE A LOT OF
INTERESTING NEW LINES OF
THINKING THAT AWE IS PROBABLY
THE CENTRAL RELIGIOUS EMOTION,
AS YOU SUGGEST.
Steve says,
HMM.
LET ME ASK ABOUT IMPEDIMENTS TO
AWE.
AND TO THAT END, WE'LL LOOK AT
IDEOLOGY.
IDEOLOGY -- PEOPLE WHO ARE
PARTICULARLY IDEOLOGICAL ARE
VERY RIGID IN THEIR VIEWS, THEY
ARE NOT OPEN TO -- NECESSARILY
OPEN TO PERSUASION BY OTHERS.
YOU KNOW, MANY OF THEM BELIEVE
THEY'VE GOT ALL THE ANSWERS AND
SO ON.
EVERYTHING IS BLACK AND WHITE.
Dacher replies, YEAH.
Steve continues,
SO I GUESS THE QUESTION IS: IS
IDEOLOGY AN IMPEDIMENT TO
EXPERIENCING AWE?
Dacher responds,
IT IS.
I MEAN, AND WHAT A DEEP
OBSERVATION.
I WISH I HAD WRITTEN ABOUT THAT.
YOU THINK ABOUT THE POLARIZATION
OF OUR TIMES PREVENTING -- WHICH
IS DRIVEN BY IDEOLOGY AND THIS
PERCEPTION, YOU KNOW, BEING AN
IMPEDIMENT TO THE AWE WE MIGHT
FEEL TOWARD A FELLOW CITIZEN OF
CANADA OR THE U.S. WHO IS REALLY
DIFFERENT FROM US BUT THERE'S A
COMMON HUMANITY THERE.
AND IDEOLOGY -- AND I WOULD
ARGUE, STEVE, AND THERE ARE DATA
ON THIS MORE GENERALLY, MORE
RIGID PATTERNS OF THOUGHT WHERE
IT'S EITHER/OR, YES OR NO,
RIGHT, ARE IMPEDIMENTS TO AWE.
https://www.tvo.org/video/why-we-need-more-awe-in-our-lives
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