Dr. Dacher Keltner, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a leading expert on the science of emotions and human connection. We discuss the science of awe—what evokes it and how to access it. Dr. Keltner explains how awe helps us frame our experience of life and who we are both as individuals and collectively. We also discuss the role of humor in social bonding, dispel common myths about the biology of emotions and review the lesser-known factors that strengthen or inhibit relationships and communities. Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman Joovv: https://joovv.com/huberman Helix Sleep: https://helixsleep.com/huberman Function: https://functionhealth.com/huberman Our Place: https://fromourplace.com/huberman
Awe is linked to reduced inflammation, elevated vagal tone, less physical pain, and even reduced long COVID symptoms with brief daily practice. The discussion frames awe as a potential adjunct “prescription” via nature, music, and art.
Keltner describes dissatisfaction with emotion science focusing mainly on negative emotions. His upbringing around art, music, and social change pushed him to study experiences like awe that science often overlooks.
The conversation revisits Ekman’s classic six basic emotions and the debate over how universal they are. Keltner notes evidence for a broader set of around 20 expressions and meaningful cultural variation.
Computational methods now analyze massive video datasets across many cultures to map expressions. This work suggests substantial cross-cultural overlap in expression patterns, while still leaving room for contextual differences.
They explore emotions as a triad of subjective feeling, motor patterns, and verbal labeling. Keltner argues these streams correlate only weakly, and the felt experience remains one of the hardest scientific problems.
Breath, facial musculature, vocalization, and autonomic measures are presented as key windows into emotion. Deep exhalations and vagal activation are linked to calm and warmth sensations that parallel ideas from contemplative traditions.
Awe is described as a perceptual shift from narrow focus to expansive scale, or the reverse. Visual vistas, new horizons, and conceptual epiphanies are highlighted as common triggers.
They contrast showing “awe videos” in the lab with studying awe in real settings like museums, trees, rivers, and concerts. Field studies are emphasized as capturing the lived texture of awe more reliably.
Keltner recounts studies stopping visitors at Yosemite and measuring self-perception changes. People often report feeling small, quiet, and part of something larger, suggesting awe reshapes self-construal.
An Awe Walk involves slowing down, deepening breathing, seeking novelty, and intentionally scanning from small details to larger patterns. Over weeks, participants report more awe, more kindness, and less pain.
They connect awe to changes in how time is “sampled,” with narrow focus linked to anxious time-slicing and expansive attention linked to different temporal experience. Music is proposed as a powerful time-based route to awe.
Awe is framed as embodied rather than purely cognitive, involving full-body physiology and reduced self-focused rumination. It can tether a person to larger systems while decreasing egotism and self-preoccupation.
Keltner discusses Jane Goodall’s claim that chimpanzees show awe-like waterfall displays. The idea is that quiet attention, goosebumps, and rocking behaviors may reflect proto-awe and connection to vast nature.
Awe is presented as a fast pathway to group cohesion, aligning physiology and attention across people. Examples include concerts, chanting, dancing, and large shared events that generate synchronized emotion.
They describe music as a language of emotion that can instantly synchronize groups. Music can evoke tears, goosebumps, identity, and long-term bonds through shared rhythms and meaning.
Sports are framed as awe-generating collective rituals similar to religion, with shared symbols, narratives, and emotional synchronization. Stories from multiple countries highlight football as a major awe domain.
Mosh pits are discussed as intense but norm-governed collective movement that can feel transcendent. The structure and mutual care within apparent chaos are treated as a form of social awe.
Meanness and excessive self-focus are described as major enemies of awe. They argue modern culture and some online dynamics amplify narcissism and reduce opportunities for expansive connection.
They discuss narratives that cocaine shifted music scenes from collective feeling toward ego and status. The broader point is that self-amplifying states can suppress awe and community.
Social media is critiqued for shrinking attention, speeding experience, fragmenting meaning, and reducing shared cultural activities. The conversation emphasizes what people lose by not doing awe-rich, in-person rituals.
Keltner argues awe can be intentionally designed into urban life through green space, public art, music, and face-to-face interaction. City design is framed as a scalable lever for health and belonging.
They highlight farmers’ markets, yoga studios, cooperative living, and game nights as signs of renewed communal life. These shared routines provide connection that is protective for health and wellbeing.
Social connection is discussed as having large health effects, including substantial longevity benefits in large datasets. The point is that community can rival or exceed many individual health interventions.
Group exercise spaces are framed as modern social hubs that can recreate ritual, conversation, and shared identity. The discussion notes a cultural shift toward strength training and communal wellness practices.
Heat and cold practices are treated as both physiological tools and social technologies. Shared sauna or banya experiences can foster candid conversation and belonging beyond solitary self-care.
They describe campfires as foundational human settings for nighttime storytelling and connection. Campfires are proposed as a practical modern ritual that combines atmosphere, attention, and social coherence.
Keltner explains research showing embarrassment signals commitment to group norms and increases trust. In male groups, playful teasing can reinforce norms and closeness when it avoids humiliation.
The conversation distinguishes teasing that keeps someone in the group from teasing that excludes or degrades. Skilled teasing is portrayed as humorous norm enforcement paired with implicit loyalty and repair.
Embarrassment is discussed as indicating moral awareness and responsiveness to social feedback. Damage to frontal systems can blunt embarrassment, making a person seem rule-blind or unsafe in social contexts.
Classic psychedelics are framed as powerful awe amplifiers that can reduce self-focus and increase perceived connection to life. They stress safety, set and setting, and respect for Indigenous traditions.
They discuss emerging evidence for helping hard problems like trauma, addiction, and death anxiety, while warning against casual use. Microdosing is criticized as overhyped relative to guided high-dose protocols.
They explore how older adults can create environments where younger people flourish with new tools rather than being controlled by them. The proposed path emphasizes shared experiences, awe-rich rituals, and intentional design.
Keltner frames awe as a practical guide for building lives and communities around nature, art, moral beauty, and reflection. The idea is to systematically increase encounters with vastness and shared humanity.
Keltner describes grief-related experiences that shifted him toward believing consciousness may extend beyond a purely material account. He links this openness to awe, mystery, and limits of current scientific methods.