Why Do We Experience Awe?
MAY 22, 2015 By PAUL PIFF and DACHER KELTNER campaign: nyt2015_sharetools_mkt_opinion_47K78 -- 271975, creative: nyt2014_sharetools_mktg_opinion_47K78 -- 375123, page: www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/opinion/sunday/why-do-we-experience-awe.html, targetedPage: www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/opinion, position: MiddleLeft HERE’S a curious fact about goose bumps. In many nonhuman mammals, goose bumps — that physiological reaction in which the muscles surrounding hair follicles contract — occur when individuals, along with other members of their species, face a threat. We humans, by contrast, can get goose bumps when we experience awe, that often-positive feeling of being in the prese...