Awe
The Transformative Power of Everyday Wonder
Published on 4. January 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-1-80206-116-1 (ISBN)
Description
From a foremost expert on the science of emotions, a ground-breaking exploration into the history, psychology and meaning of awe
Social psychologist Dacher Keltner has spent his career speaking to different groups of people, from schoolchildren to prisoners to healthcare workers, about the good life. These conversations and his pioneering research into the science of emotion have convinced him that happiness comes down to one thing: finding awe.
Awe allows us to collaborate with others, open our minds to wonder, and see the deep patterns of life. In his new book, Keltner presents a radical investigation into this elusive emotion. Drawing on his own scientific research into how awe transforms our brains and bodies, alongside an examination of awe across history, culture and within his own life during a period of immense grief, Keltner shows us how cultivating wonder leads us to appreciate what is most humane in our human nature. The book includes intensely moving, deeply personal stories of awe from people all over the world - doctors and veterans, environmentalists and filmmakers, indigenous scholars and hospice workers, ministers and midwives, poets and prisoners.
At turns radical and profound, Awe is our field guide for how to uncover everyday wonder as a vital force within our lives.
Social psychologist Dacher Keltner has spent his career speaking to different groups of people, from schoolchildren to prisoners to healthcare workers, about the good life. These conversations and his pioneering research into the science of emotion have convinced him that happiness comes down to one thing: finding awe.
Awe allows us to collaborate with others, open our minds to wonder, and see the deep patterns of life. In his new book, Keltner presents a radical investigation into this elusive emotion. Drawing on his own scientific research into how awe transforms our brains and bodies, alongside an examination of awe across history, culture and within his own life during a period of immense grief, Keltner shows us how cultivating wonder leads us to appreciate what is most humane in our human nature. The book includes intensely moving, deeply personal stories of awe from people all over the world - doctors and veterans, environmentalists and filmmakers, indigenous scholars and hospice workers, ministers and midwives, poets and prisoners.
At turns radical and profound, Awe is our field guide for how to uncover everyday wonder as a vital force within our lives.
Reviews / Votes
Fascinating and enjoyable -- Tomiwa Owolade * Sunday Times * Keltner writes movingly... Awe often defies language, but Keltner is highly attuned to its traces -- Edward Posnett, Book of the Day * Guardian * Keltner's core message, imploring us to smell the coffee and whoa at it, is a welcome one in our overscheduled times * Financial Times * Humanity has a lot of loss to work through. Keltner has written the perfect guidebook for this journey, interweaving discoveries that he and his disciples have made since he pioneered the scientific study of awe 20 years ago with highly personal-and at times excruciatingly tender-meditations on the death of his brother Rolf * Harvard Business Review * A gifted storyteller, Keltner draws on the experiences of individuals across the world to document the salutary impact of everyday, wild and mystical encounters with nature, music, visual art, literature, religion, the birth of children, and the death of loved ones * Psychology Today * 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 I recommend [Awe] to everyone. Its ideas organized a lot of my experiences, observations, thoughts, and hopes in a powerful new way -- Rebecca Solnit * (X) * 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 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 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 CainMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 193 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
248 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80206-116-1 (9781802061161)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
01/2023
Penguin
€14.99
Available for download
Person
Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the faculty director of the Greater Good Science Center. A renowned expert in the science of human emotion and consultant to Pixar's Inside Out, Dr Keltner studies compassion and awe, as well as issues of power, status, inequality and social class. He is the author of The Power Paradox and the bestselling Born to Be Good, and the co-editor of The Compassionate Instinct.