On Awe - by Benjamin Laufer - Laufer's thoughts
laufer.substack.com · 2,239 words · saved by 3 readers
Instantaneous, Manufactured, and Necessary
A few weeks ago, driving to SF from the Contrary Capital retreat in Lake Tahoe, I saw several rainbows, one after the other. Rainbows elicit awe, but so do their quick succession. This type of awe is of the instantaneous variety. Instantaneous-awe requires no training, no developed reflex. This breed of awe, as David Foster Wallace might put it, "bypasses conscious thought." Our childhood is filled with moments of instantaneous-awe. It makes sense why; awe is some combination of rarity and that which sits just beyond what we are able to wrap our head around. To the child, all is new and…
saved by
related reading
- is work worship?nicoles.substack.com
- on slowness, taste, and living well - Isabel Unraveledmindmine.substack.com
- How to pay attentionreading.supply
- Tech-vexed: how digital life threatens our capacity for aweaeon.co
- Why are we missing awe in our lifesubstack.com
- Why are we missing awe in our lifeutsavmamoria.substack.com
- Seasonal Stories / Winter 23michaelbass.substack.com
- why time felt slower when we were kids (and how to get it back)contemplationstation.substack.com
- in search of awespencerchang.substack.com
- How awe drives scientists to make a leap into the unknownaeon.co
- 🌻 audience of onejasmine.substack.com
- on slowness, taste, and living wellsubstack.com