The Value of Awe
The Value of Awe
Standing before the walls of an ancient temple, walking in the quiet shadow of a snow-covered mountain, and bathing in the various sounds of religious music can, in every case, fill you with a sense of wonder. But according to new research, these moments of awe may also boost your mental and physical health.
In a study published in the academic journal Emotion, researchers found that positive emotions—especially the awe that comes with a deep connection to art, nature or spirituality—are linked to lower levels of inflammation-producing cytokines.
“That awe, wonder and beauty promote healthier levels of cytokines suggests that the things we do to experience these emotions – a walk in nature, losing oneself in music, beholding amazing artwork – has a direct influence upon health and life expectancy,” said UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner, a co-author of the study.
Cytokines play an important role in the body’s immune system, stimulating it to fight disease, infection and injuries. But high levels of cytokines over a long period are linked to disorders such as heart disease, type-2 diabetes and clinical depression. Eating well, exercising and getting enough sleep can all boost the body’s immune system, but the new study found that emotions are also a powerful tool for promoting good health.
Researchers believe that cytokines may boost mood by blocking other chemicals in the brain — such as serotonin and dopamine — which are also involved in regulating sleep and memory. But these effects could be a two-way street, with lower levels of cytokines and positive emotions both influencing the other. Yet researchers see awe as a way to move beyond your limited physical and mental existence toward something more.
“Awe is associated with curiosity and a desire to explore, suggesting antithetical behavioral responses to those found during inflammation, where individuals typically withdraw from others in their environment,” said Jennifer Stellar, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto and lead author of the study, which she conducted while at UC Berkeley.
BUT, what strikes me most about these studies is that they support what we already knew—and have known for centuries. Even just two centuries ago, the artists, authors, and musicians (as well as the philosophers) of the Romantic movement placed experiences of beauty and the sublime on a pedestal as the primary drivers of positive cultural change. Science, for them, could give its reasons for why this was true, but these folks weren’t waiting for it to give them the thumbs up. They already knew by their own inner lights that awe was valuable—and not only to the individual.
Two hundred and thirty years ago, in 1795, Friedrich Schiller wrote in On the Aesthetic Education of Man that by exposing all members of society to the arts, minds would be opened in ways that would boost the collective consciousness—and conscience—of society. In short, he—plus Goethe, Schelling and others—advised that we think of the arts not as engines of recreation but of re-creation, not ways to idle away our time but rather maximize it in the service of self-and-social illumination.
For nearly thirty years, I taught at the Maine College of Art, loving my job every step of the way. Now you know why I was there so long. It was because I agree with the Romantics and had the opportunity daily to view amazing works of art. Thanks to all my great students over the years at MECA; you inspired me in so many ways.
