Use documentary and large-scale art to trigger awe

Watch content that conveys genuine vastness — deep space, ecosystems, historical scale — with full attention rather than as background.

Why it works

Awe requires perceived vastness, and visual and narrative content that conveys scale beyond human experience can induce the emotion without requiring physical travel. The critical variable is attentional engagement: vast content watched as background wallpaper does not produce the accommodation response — the mental frameworks must actually be challenged, which requires focused engagement.

How to do it

1. Identify one documentary, film, or piece of music that genuinely moves you toward awe — a real example, not an ideal one.
2. Watch or listen with screens off, full attention, in a room without other distractions.
3. Allow yourself to be affected — do not immediately analyze or evaluate.
4. Sit with the feeling for two minutes after it ends before resuming normal activity.

Evidence

Lab-based awe induction using video clips (often of nature at scale) reliably produces positive affect and small-self effects, consistent with Keltner’s model. Video-induced awe is used as a standard manipulation in research. (observational)

Lab-induced awe via video may be lower intensity than naturally occurring awe; whether regular home use produces the same benefits as lab protocols is not established.

Sources

• Keltner & Haidt (2003), "Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic emotion," Cognition and Emotion

Common mistake

Having awe-inducing content on in the background while doing something else — this creates ambient pleasant imagery without the attentional engagement that produces the emotional response.