Jim Kwik explains how awe activates the vagus nerve, reducing chronic inflammation and lowering stress. He argues awe expands creativity and wonder while putting daily worries in perspective, and suggests it could help address rising mental health crises in young people.
Awe gives us a sense of more time, more creative time in our lives. Awe expands our sense of wonder and meaning and enhances the rigor of our thought. It makes you a better scientist, it makes you more creative. For the body, awe reduces the daily stresses of life, puts them into perspective. Just a little moment of awe, just like those astronauts, you almost channel the overview effect and you're like, this parking ticket, that sneer from somebody out in the streets doesn't matter. And awe's really good for your body. It elevates vagal tone, the activation of the vagus nerve, And it reduces inflammation, that part of your immune system that heats up the body to kill pathogens, but when chronically activated, is really hard on your body. And awe, as Emerson said, there's nothing that nature or awe can't repair, and it looks like it repairs the body. When I look at the crises right now that young people are facing and the issues with life expectancy in the United States, I feel like we need more awe.
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