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…
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