Being in Awe Can Expand Time and Enhance Well-Being

[G_j]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120719161901.htm

Being in Awe Can Expand Time and Enhance Well-Being


ScienceDaily (July 19, 2012) — It doesn't matter what we've experienced -- whether it's the breathtaking scope of the Grand Canyon, the ethereal beauty of the Aurora Borealis, or the exhilarating view from the top of the Eiffel Tower -- at some point in our lives we've all had the feeling of being in a complete and overwhelming sense of awe.

Awe seems to be a universal emotion, but it has been largely neglected by scientists -- until now.

Psychological scientists Melanie Rudd and Jennifer Aaker of Stanford University Graduate School of Business and Kathleen Vohs of the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management devised a way to study this feeling of awe in the laboratory. Across three different experiments, they found that jaw-dropping moments made participants feel like they had more time available and made them more patient, less materialistic, and more willing to volunteer time to help others.

The researchers found that the effects that awe has on decision-making and well-being can be explained by awe's ability to actually change our subjective experience of time by slowing it down. Experiences of awe help to brings us into the present moment which, in turn, adjusts our perception of time, influences our decisions, and makes life feel more satisfying than it would otherwise.

[G_j]

1. perhaps it symbolizes DU's present lack of awe

that without a kick, this would most likely disappear.. (lol)

[surrealAmerican]

9. In fairness ...

... the nature of awe is that one can't experience it frequently. Awe is, almost by definition, a rare phenomenon.

[G_j]

11. true enough... nt

[Blue_Tires]

15. I experience it all the time...

All I have to do is stop and look/listen/feel/touch/think...

[Bluenorthwest]

16. Such a state as a random thing happening to you is perhaps rare, but such states are a skill

not a gift, and a sharpened talent for such things can cause continued states of 'awe'.

[Mnemosyne]

2. Awe! nt

[RagAss]

3. It is an emotion that transcends time and space. A view from eternity.

The Buddha lived in awe for hours during his enlightenment. The Gnostic view of Jesus inferred this about his teachings as well, in the Gospel of Thomas.

[malthaussen]

4. I've always thought of it as a kind of time dilation...

... and I don't need the Grand Canyon for it -- I can feel awe looking into the face of someone I love.

-- Mal

[Coexist]

5. so cool.

[Octafish]

6. Awesome.

Ya know, G_j, didn't Einstein say time contracts when having a good time, like when a pretty girl is on one's lap?

PS: Totally understand the awesomeless. Science.

[G_j]

10. flashes of awe that give life a deeper meaning,

inspiration......joy... where would we be without it?

[Enrique]

7. it worked out for this guy

[RainDog]

8. k&r n/t

[Blue_In_AK]

12. I love being in awe.

It's part of why I live in Alaska. The auroras last winter were astonishing.

[Warren DeMontague]

13. I've found that just getting away from the lights of civilzation & going outside on a moonless night

really makes all the bullshit seem awfully unimportant.

[cali]

14. there isn't a contemplative religion on the planet that hasn't

recognized this and developed paths toward this state of mind- from the Sufis to the Kabbalists to Tibetan Buddhists, etc.