You must have had that moment when you pay for your groceries at the supermarket, you say “Thank you” and the uni student working the checkout says, “Awesome.” You thought to yourself, “No, no actually, I just exchanged currency for goods. There is nothing awe inspiring about that”. It’s not the only time we unnecessarily upscale our appreciation these days either; Here’s the Eggs Benedict I ordered for brunch: “awesome”. I just read an article about chickpeas: “awesome”. Or, I just bought three items of active-wear for less than $100: “awesome”. OK, managing to purchase more than one item of anything labelled “active-wear” for less than $100 is impressive, but it is not awe inspiring. Genuine awe is what you feel when, for instance, you are an astronaut and see the Earth from space, and now psychologists have looked into what that genuine awe is like.
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Psychologists have coined the term “overview effect” to describe what astronauts experience when they see the Earth from orbit. People who have been in space say that the effect of viewing the Earth is a transcendent one but the researchers wanted to dig deeper into what the sense of awe that astronauts feel really means.
To do this, they simply analysed excerpts from astronauts from around the world who were commenting on viewing the Earth from space. From this analysis, the themes that emerged were unity, vastness, connectedness, perception and a sense of an overwhelming, life-changing moment.
As the researchers say, what makes this so interesting is that these transcendent experiences usually come in a religious context but, in the case of the scientists who become astronauts, these kind of experiences are not what is sought yet they come anyway. People who meditate or who climb mountains seek “awe” but these astronauts have it thrust upon them. When we see a sunset or experience a beautiful place we get a taste of the “overview effect” but astronauts regularly and involuntarily experience it when they see the Earth from space.
If we can fully understand that experience, then perhaps we will be able to help future space travellers deal with it and also help people experience the “overview effect” without ever leaving Earth. Now, if we can achieve those things, that would be awesome.
