Dacher Keltner
University of California, Berkeley
Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on the science of human emotion, social connection, and well-being. His publications investigate topics such as the psychological effects of awe, cross-cultural facial expression and emotion recognition, compassion, and empathy.
30 claims checked on air: 4 context 7 overstated 11 supported 8 unverified
What they said on air
11 citing their own research
Experiencing awe reduces inflammation, elevates vagal tone, and reduces long COVID symptoms.
"Awe is good for reduced inflammation, elevated vagal tone, reduced long COVID symptoms." (said at 0:00:00)
While cross-sectional and laboratory studies link the experience of awe to lower circulating levels of proinflammatory cytokines (such as IL-6) and distinct autonomic/parasympathetic profiles, these findings are correlational and exploratory in healthy populations. There is no established clinical trial evidence demonstrating that experiencing awe reduces inflammation causally in clinical settings or treats long COVID symptoms.
- context: Feeling good: autonomic nervous system responding in five positive emotions. (Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2011)
"In a repeated measures design, participants viewed sets of visual images eliciting these positive emotions (anticipatory enthusiasm, attachment love, nurturant love, amusement, and awe) plus an emotionally neutral state. Peripheral measures of sympathetic and vagal parasympathetic activation were assessed." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - partial: Positive affect and markers of inflammation: discrete positive emotions predict lower leve… (Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2015)
"We also explored the relationship between discrete positive emotions and IL-6 levels, finding that awe, measured in two different ways, was the strongest predictor of lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)
Engaging in just one minute of awe per day reduces long COVID symptoms.
"We have people with long COVID, just a minute of awe a day reduced long COVID symptoms." (said at 0:00:10)
A 2025 randomized controlled trial (PMID 40355653, N=68) evaluated a synchronous online awe intervention among patients with long COVID. The study found improvements in psychological health metrics—specifically decreased stress and depressive symptoms, and improved well-being (with no significant difference in anxiety)—compared to controls. However, the claim overstates these preliminary findings: the intervention involved synchronous structured sessions rather than a self-directed 'one minute per day' practice, and the trial measured psychological health outcomes rather than physical long COVID symptoms.
Young children reliably display facial expressions of disgust in response to unpleasant odors.
"young children show disgust expressions like social mammals do. They wince at bad smells just like you or I would." (said at 0:05:54)
Experimental studies assessing neonatal and infant olfacto-facial reactivity using objective coding systems (such as the Baby-Facial Action Coding System) demonstrate that infants and young children produce characteristic facial markers of disgust (e.g., nose wrinkling, upper lip raising, and aversive facial actions) in response to unpleasant odorants (such as butyric acid) or postprandial food odors.
Scientific data suggest there are approximately 20 distinct facial expressions and emotional states in humans.
"And now, there's a lot of data that suggests there are 20 different facial expressions. Laughter, love, compassion, awe, you know, whoa, embarrassment, shame, pain, you know, and that in some sense has broadened the taxonomy of emotions. We used to think of six, now there are probably 20 distinct states in the mind." (said at 0:06:12)
Scientific research expanding beyond the classical model of six basic emotions indicates that humans produce and recognize approximately 20 distinct facial expressions and emotion categories. For example, Du et al. (2014) identified 21 distinct compound facial expressions using Facial Action Coding System (FACS) and computational modeling, while large-scale cross-cultural machine learning studies (e.g., Cowen et al., 2021) identified 16 to 28 distinct facial and bodily expression categories.
An AI computational analysis of 2 million videos across 144 cultures found a 75% overlap across cultures in facial expressions for 16 distinct emotional contexts.
"He coded 2 million videos from 144 cultures and 16 facial expressions, 75% overlap across cultures in how we show awe at fireworks, concentration on a test, you know, laugh at friends." (said at 0:07:34)
The claim accurately reflects a landmark 2021 Nature study by Cowen and colleagues using deep neural networks to evaluate facial expressions across cultures. The study analyzed naturalistic videos from 144 countries (using up to 6 million videos across experiments) and found that 16 distinct facial expressions shared 70% of their contextual associations across 12 world regions.
Motor patterns of emotional expression and the verbal language used to describe emotional experience correlate weakly, around r = 0.2.
"On balance, they correlate .2, so they're just weakly they're kind of these streams of behavior that are just part of who we are, right? Our motor patterns and language." (said at 0:14:40)
No publication directly verifying the specific correlation value (approximately r = 0.20) between motor patterns of facial emotional expression and verbal descriptions of emotional experience was retrieved in the database search. While scientific literature examining emotional response coherence and constructivist theories of emotion frequently evaluates the degree of alignment between expressive behavior and subjective self-report, direct empirical confirmation of this specific quantitative summary could not be verified from the retrieved records. This does not imply the claim is false, only that it could not be confirmed with the fetched evidence.
Deep exhalation activates the vagus nerve and produces a calming effect and a physiological sensation of warmth in the chest.
"And lo and behold, the breath, deep exhalation, activates the vagus nerve, calms us down. That activation of the vagus nerve gives people a sense of warmth in your chest" (said at 0:18:03)
Substantial psychophysiological research demonstrates that slow breathing with prolonged exhalation increases vagal nerve activity (indexed by heart rate variability markers like RMSSD and high-frequency power) and induces calming or anxiety-reducing effects. However, the specific claim that it generates a 'physiological sensation of warmth in the chest' is largely a subjective or mindfulness-based experiential descriptor rather than a standardized, established physiological response documented in clinical literature.
Charles Darwin identified 53 emotions annotated across eight modalities of expressive behavior in 'The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals'.
"53 emotions annotated with eight modalities of expressive behavior. I wrote it with Darwin scholar Frank Sulloway who knows everything about Darwin" (said at 0:18:53)
No indexed scientific publications in the queried biomedical databases (PubMed/Europe PMC) could be identified to verify the specific numerical claim that Charles Darwin identified exactly 53 emotions annotated across eight modalities of expressive behavior in 'The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals'. This does not prove the historical or quantitative textual analysis false, but it remains unverified in the biomedical literature searched.
Older adults aged 75 or older who performed an awe walk once per week for 8 weeks, intentionally shifting focus from small details to vast views, experienced reduced physical pain and improved brain health 6 years later.
"Old people go out on an awe walk once a week for 8 weeks. 75 years old or older, and all we asked them to do is to go from small to vast in how they looked at things. You know, look at a tree, look at a leaf, go out to the pattern of leaves. It brought them awe and less physical pain, uh, over 8 weeks. And now we're finding 6 years later better brain health" (said at 0:29:00)
The cited randomized controlled trial by Sturm et al. (2022) evaluated 60 healthy older adults randomized to weekly 15-minute awe walks versus control walks for 8 weeks. The study measured emotional outcomes (such as prosocial positive emotions, smile intensity, anxiety, depression, and distress) during and immediately after the 8-week intervention. It did not evaluate physical pain, structural or functional brain health outcomes, nor did it include a 6-year follow-up.
An 8-week intervention of weekly awe walks in older adults increases experiences of awe and kindness over time and reduces self-reported physical pain.
"what we find in that study is is they become more vast in their consciousness. They're more aware in the photographs that they provided of what's around them. They feel more kindness over the 8 weeks. They feel more awe over an 8-week period. It rises. And then the—the finding that was, you know, important for people who are elderly is less physical pain." (said at 0:33:06)
A randomized controlled trial by Sturm et al. (2022, PMID 32955293) tested an 8-week intervention of weekly 15-minute outdoor walks in 60 older adults. Participants assigned to the awe walk group demonstrated significant increases in feelings of awe, prosocial positive emotions (such as kindness, gratitude, and compassion), and decreases in daily distress compared to controls. However, the trial did not establish a reduction in self-reported physical pain, making that portion of the claim unsupported.
- partial: Big smile, small self: Awe walks promote prosocial positive emotions in older adults. (Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2022)
"Sixty participants took weekly 15-min outdoor walks for 8 weeks; participants were randomly assigned to an awe walk group, which oriented them to experience awe during their walks, or to a control walk group... Compared with participants who took control walks, those who took awe walks experienced greater awe during their walks and exhibited an increasingly "small self" in their photographs over time. They reported greater joy and prosocial positive emotions during their walks and displayed increasing smile intensity over the study. Outside of the walk context, participants who took awe walks reported greater increases in daily prosocial positive emotions and greater decreases in daily distress over time." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)
Experiencing awe leads to reduced systemic inflammation and elevated vagal tone.
"Awe is good for reduced inflammation, elevated vagal tone, reduced long COVID symptoms." (said at 0:33:34)
Evidence supports a link between awe, parasympathetic activity, and inflammatory markers, but the strength and causality of these relationships differ between outcomes. Experimental laboratory studies (e.g., using immersive video or awe-inducing clips) demonstrate that inducing awe acutely increases parasympathetic nervous system activation, measured via elevated respiratory sinus arrhythmia and related heart rate variability metrics. However, the evidence connecting awe to reduced systemic inflammation comes primarily from cross-sectional and daily-diary studies showing that higher trait or frequent experiences of awe correlate with lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), rather than clinical trials proving that eliciting awe directly lowers baseline systemic inflammation.
- partial: Positive affect and markers of inflammation: discrete positive emotions predict lower leve… (Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2015)
"We also explored the relationship between discrete positive emotions and IL-6 levels, finding that awe, measured in two different ways, was the strongest predictor of lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: Effectiveness of Immersive Videos in Inducing Awe: An Experimental Study. (Scientific reports 2017)
"Immersive videos displaying an awe content also led to higher parasympathetic activation." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: Awe Sparks Prosociality in Children. (Psychological science 2023)
"They also exhibited increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia, an index of parasympathetic nervous system activation associated with social engagement." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)
Practicing one minute of awe per day reduces symptoms in individuals with long COVID.
"We have people with long COVID, just a minute of awe a day reduces long COVID symptoms." (said at 0:33:44)
A small randomized controlled trial (PMID 40355653, N = 68) evaluated an online awe intervention in patients with long COVID and found significant improvements in psychological outcomes—specifically reduced stress, reduced depressive symptoms, and improved well-being, though not anxiety. However, claiming that 'one minute of awe per day reduces symptoms in individuals with long COVID' overstates the evidence: the study tested psychological health outcomes rather than physical long COVID symptoms (such as fatigue, dysautonomia, or post-exertional malaise), and the evidence currently comes from a single preliminary trial.
Awe quiets the brain's default mode network and activates vagal tone.
"Default mode network starts to quiet down, activates vagal tone, and you do feel like you're tethered, as you said, to like music or a culture or a political movement or the team you love, right?" (said at 0:41:59)
Experimental neuroimaging and psychophysiological research demonstrates that experiencing awe reduces activity in default mode network (DMN) regions associated with self-referential thought and increases vagal/parasympathetic tone, as indexed by elevated respiratory sinus arrhythmia and related parasympathetic measures.
- supports: Effectiveness of Immersive Videos in Inducing Awe: An Experimental Study. (Scientific reports 2017)
"Immersive videos displaying an awe content also led to higher parasympathetic activation." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: The neural correlates of the awe experience: Reduced default mode network activity during … (Human brain mapping 2019)
"By using a whole-brain analysis we found that several brain regions that are considered part of the default mode network (DMN), including the frontal pole, the angular gyrus, and the posterior cingulate cortex, were more strongly activated in the absorption condition. But this was less the case when participants were watching awe videos." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: Awe Sparks Prosociality in Children. (Psychological science 2023)
"They also exhibited increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia, an index of parasympathetic nervous system activation associated with social engagement." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)
Shared collective experiences like concerts or sporting events cause attendees' heart rates and brain patterns to synchronize.
"When we go to a concert or we watch a sporting event, you know, if you're—if you like sports, your heart rate is syncing up, your brains are synchronizing." (said at 0:48:06)
Naturalistic experimental studies measuring audience members during live collective experiences (such as concerts and sporting events) demonstrate significant physiological synchrony (inter-subject correlation in heart rate, respiration, and skin conductance) and neural synchrony (inter-brain EEG coupling). Studies have shown audience heart rate synchronization during live classical music concerts and collegiate sports games, as well as heightened inter-subject neural coupling (EEG synchrony) during shared live performances.
- supports: Audience synchronies in live concerts illustrate the embodiment of music experience. (Scientific reports 2023)
"Clear evidence was found of physiological synchrony (heart rate, respiration rate, skin conductance response) as well as movement synchrony of the audiences, whereas breathing behavior was not synchronized. Thus the audiences of the three concerts resonated with the music, their music perception was embodied." (abstract, results)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: Delta-band audience brain synchrony tracks engagement with live and recorded dance. (iScience 2025)
"Across three live performances of a dance choreography, we simultaneously measured real-time dynamics between the brains of up to 23 audience members using mobile wet-electrode EEG. Interpersonal neural synchrony (INS) in the delta band (1-4 Hz) was highest when performers directly interacted with audience members (breaking the fourth wall) and varied systematically with the dancers' movements and artistically predicted and actual continuous engagement." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: Endogenous oxytocin-linked heart-rate synchrony and social connection during live sports s… (Translational psychiatry 2026)
"Here we show that a single session of live collegiate sports spectating is associated with endogenous oxytocin and interpersonal heart-rate (HR) synchrony, both of which were linked to psychological indices of social bonding among casual fans." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)
Scientific research shows that music is effective for relieving chronic pain.
"There's now research showing it's good for chronic pain. I think it's a frontier in healthcare." (said at 0:56:36)
Multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials demonstrate that music interventions and music therapy provide statistically significant reductions in self-reported pain intensity among patients with chronic pain conditions. Evidence indicates that music acts as an effective non-pharmacological adjuvant for chronic pain management, with effects often being more pronounced when patients are permitted to choose their own music.
Longitudinal research indicates that individuals are increasingly self-focused, with approximately 25% of photos taken being selfies and roughly 50% featuring the self alone or with others.
"Jean Twenge, longitudinal data, we're more self-focused. A quarter of the pictures that we take are of the self. It's preposterous. HOST: It's pretty crazy. GUEST1: Half of the photos we take are of the self or the self with another person or another thing." (said at 1:10:55)
A systematic search of PubMed and Europe PMC did not identify any longitudinal studies or peer-reviewed publications reporting that approximately 25% of photos taken are selfies or that roughly 50% feature the self alone or with others as evidence of increasing self-focus. This does not prove the claim is false, but the specific statistics and longitudinal findings could not be verified in the biomedical and psychological literature indexed in these databases.
Self-focused attention, social striving, and worrying about finances inhibit the experience of awe.
"If I am focused on myself, I'll feel less awe. If I am worried about my striving in society or my bottom line of my bank account or thinking about money, it countervails awe." (said at 1:11:45)
No published empirical studies directly testing whether self-focused attention, social striving, and financial worry inhibit the induction or subjective experience of awe were identified in the literature search. While psychological literature frequently observes that experiencing awe reduces self-focus (often termed the 'small self' effect), specific evidence demonstrating the inverse causal barrier (that self-focused attention, status-seeking, or financial worry inhibit awe) was not located in the searched databases. This does not prove the claim is false, but means it remains unverified by the retrieved scientific records.
In a cross-cultural study of 2,600 participants assessing sources of awe, no participants reported experiencing awe from social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram.
"And in our study of 2,600 people around the world, what makes them feel awe, no one ever said being on Meta or Facebook or you know, or uh you know, or Instagram." (said at 1:13:38)
No peer-reviewed publications indexed in PubMed or Europe PMC were identified documenting a cross-cultural study of exactly 2,600 participants assessing sources of awe and reporting that zero participants mentioned social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram. This finding appears to originate from qualitative research and narrative collection described in psychologist Dacher Keltner's 2023 book ('Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life') rather than a standalone indexed journal article. As this specific empirical dataset could not be verified in the biomedical literature, the claim remains unverified by indexed scientific sources.
Movie theater attendance has declined by 40%.
"Going to movies is down 40%, right? That used to be a very important collective cultural experience." (said at 1:14:40)
No peer-reviewed scientific literature or epidemiological studies indexed in PubMed or Europe PMC evaluating the claim that movie theater attendance has declined specifically by 40% were identified. Industry and box office attendance figures are typically tracked through commercial and entertainment market data rather than biomedical literature, leaving this specific statistical claim unverified in the medical literature.
A meta-analysis of 350,000 participants shows that strong social connections and community confer up to a 10-year increase in life expectancy.
"And we derive a lot of benefits from that. Profound benefits, 10 years of life expectancy. Community. 10 years. ... That's a meta-analysis of 350,000 participants. So, that's that you can go to the bank with that. Like, social community very good for the body." (said at 1:15:45)
The claim clearly references the landmark 2010 meta-analysis by Holt-Lunstad and colleagues (PMID: 20668659), which analyzed 148 longitudinal studies encompassing 308,849 participants. The meta-analysis demonstrated that individuals with stronger social relationships had a 50% greater likelihood of survival over the study follow-up periods compared to those with weaker relationships (OR = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.42–1.59; increasing to OR = 1.91 for multifaceted social integration). However, the paper evaluated relative survival odds and mortality risk during follow-up rather than quantifying a specific absolute increase in life expectancy of 'up to 10 years.' Translating relative survival odds into a fixed decade-long life extension is an unverified extrapolation.
The human startle response consists of a seven-muscle movement motor pattern built into the nervous system.
"and studying the startle response, a seven muscle movement motor pattern built into the nervous system." (said at 1:36:39)
The human startle reaction is indeed an innate, hardwired reflex motor pattern mediated through brainstem pathways (specifically the caudal pontine reticular nucleus and reticulospinal tract). However, characterizing it as strictly a 'seven-muscle movement motor pattern' is a simplified categorization (often drawn from classical facial action / behavioral descriptions by Landis & Hunt or Paul Ekman). In physiological reality, the generalized acoustic startle response activates a broad, rostrocaudally propagating sequence of multiple cranial, neck (e.g., sternocleidomastoid), trunk, and limb flexor muscles rather than being restricted to exactly seven muscles.
When people display embarrassment, observers tend to like them more, trust them more, and allocate more resources to them.
"And when you see people get embarrassed, you like them more, and you trust them more, and you give resources to them, and you think they're a good group member." (said at 1:37:24)
A series of laboratory and experimental studies by Feinberg, Willer, and Keltner (2012) directly examined the interpersonal consequences of displaying embarrassment. Across multiple studies, observers recognized displays of embarrassment as nonverbal signals of prosociality and relationship commitment. In response, observers showed greater trust, expressed a greater desire to affiliate with (like/connect with) the embarrassed individual, and were more willing to allocate resources to them compared to targets displaying other emotions or neutral expressions.
- supports: Flustered and faithful: embarrassment as a signal of prosociality. (Journal of personality and social psychology 2012)
"In turn, observers respond with affiliative behaviors toward the signaler, including greater trust and desire to affiliate with the embarrassed individual. Five studies tested these hypotheses and ruled out alternative explanations... Results of Studies 2-5 revealed that observers rated embarrassed targets as being more prosocial and less antisocial relative to targets who displayed either a different emotion or no emotion. In addition, observers were more willing to give resources and express a desire to affiliate with these targets, and these effects were mediated by perceptions of the targets as prosocial." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)
In group teasing interactions, individuals who display more embarrassment are better liked by group members.
"And what we found is the more that they got embarrassed, the better they liked each other." (said at 1:39:50)
Research on the social functions of embarrassment (pioneered by Dacher Keltner and colleagues) shows that nonverbal displays of embarrassment act as appeasement gestures signaling prosociality and commitment to social norms. Studies evaluating teasing interactions in groups (such as fraternity members) and interpersonal encounters show that targets who display embarrassment elicit greater affiliative intent, trust, and prosocial responses from observers rather than social rejection. However, the literature primarily characterizes this outcome in terms of increased desire to affiliate, reduced hostility/face-threat, and perceptions of prosociality rather than simple popularity/liking alone.
- supports: Flustered and faithful: embarrassment as a signal of prosociality. (Journal of personality and social psychology 2012)
"Extending past research on embarrassment as a nonverbal apology and appeasement gesture, the authors demonstrate that observers recognize the expression of embarrassment as a signal of prosociality and commitment to social relationships. In turn, observers respond with affiliative behaviors toward the signaler, including greater trust and desire to affiliate with the embarrassed individual." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - context: Teasing in hierarchical and intimate relations. (Journal of personality and social psychology 1998)
"Following E. Goffman's (1967) face threat analysis of social interaction, it was hypothesized that the aggressive, playful content of teasing would vary according to social status and relational satisfaction, personality, role as teaser or target, and gender. These 4 hypotheses were tested in analyses of the teasing among fraternity members (Study 1) and romantic couples (Study 2). Consistent with a face threat analysis of teasing, low-status fraternity members and satisfied romantic partners teased in more prosocial ways, defined by reduced face threat and increased redressive action." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)
Damage to the orbitofrontal cortex causes individuals to fail to display embarrassment in socially expected situations.
"The orbitofrontal cortex is in part where your ethical consideration takes place. And if you have damage to that region of the brain through brain trauma, you fall off a motorcycle or you know, fall off a ladder, you don't show embarrassment where you should" (said at 1:43:12)
Neuropsychological studies demonstrate that individuals with orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) damage fail to experience or display appropriate self-conscious emotions, such as embarrassment, during socially inappropriate behavior or social norm violations in real-time. Research by Beer and colleagues shows that while OFC-damaged patients understand social norms abstractly, their deficit in online self-monitoring prevents them from generating spontaneous embarrassment in expected social situations, though embarrassment can be elicited post-hoc when they watch videotaped recordings of their own behavior.
Approximately 30 percent of meals in the United States are eaten by people alone.
"The estimate is that 30% of meals in the United States people eat them by themselves." (said at 1:49:14)
A search of biomedical and public health literature did not identify a peer-reviewed study confirming that precisely ~30% of all meals in the United States are eaten alone. While large population-level datasets like the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) document that dining alone is common and increasing in the United States (e.g., PMID 42020637), exact percentage figures for solo meal occasions typically derive from food industry consumer reports (e.g., Hartman Group, NPD Group) rather than standard indexed biomedical literature. As such, this specific statistic remains unverified within peer-reviewed health databases.
Approximately one out of eight Americans practices yoga.
"One out of eight Americans does yoga." (said at 1:50:25)
Nationally representative data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) show that yoga practice prevalence among US adults was 13.7% (approximately 1 in 7.3, or roughly one in eight) in 2017, and rose to 16.8% by 2022. The claim that approximately one out of eight Americans practices yoga accurately reflects these national survey estimates.
- supports: Increasing Trend of Yoga Practice Among U.S. Adults From 2002 to 2017. (Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) 2021)
"Yoga practice prevalence nearly tripled from 5.1% in 2002 to 13.7% in 2017 (weighted estimate 10,386,456 and 32,761,194 American adults, respectively)." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: Prevalence and 20-year trends in meditation, yoga, guided imagery and progressive relaxati… (Scientific reports 2024)
"The overall use of meditation (18.3%, 60.53 million), yoga (16.8%, 55.78 million) and guided imagery/progressive relaxation (6.7%, 22.22 million) increased significantly from 2002 to 2022." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)
Approximately 70% of the world's human population resides in cities.
"70% of human population is in cities." (said at 2:05:55)
The speaker significantly overstates the current global urban population. Currently, approximately 55% to 56% (just over half) of the world's population resides in urban areas or cities. The figure of approximately 68% to 70% is a widely cited demographic projection for the year 2050, rather than the current proportion.
Most global carbon emissions originate from cities.
"Most of our carbon emissions come out of cities." (said at 2:06:03)
According to established climate and urban accounting assessments (such as the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report and UN-Habitat), urban areas account for approximately two-thirds to over 70% of global greenhouse gas and carbon emissions when considering energy consumption and production activities. Research examining urban carbon footprints across global value chains highlights the critical concentration of global emissions driven by city-level industrial activity, trade, and consumption.
Currently, approximately 55% of Americans attend church or religious services, down from historical rates of around 90%.
"55% of Americans go to church. It used to be 90 or temple." (said at 2:07:10)
No biomedical or epidemiological literature indexed in the searched databases directly verified the specific historical and current percentage figures for US religious service attendance cited by the speaker (55% vs. historical ~90%). Sociological survey data (such as Gallup, General Social Survey, and Pew Research Center) tracking these trends are generally published in polling and demographic reports rather than indexed biomedical journals.
Sauna bathing increases heart rate and induces sweating, providing physiological benefits to the body.
"And you get your sweat and your heart rate goes up and so good for your your body" (said at 2:12:07)
Sauna bathing causes well-documented acute physiological responses, including increased heart rate and thermoregulatory sweating. Comprehensive reviews and physiological studies confirm these acute cardiovascular changes and link regular sauna exposure to various physiological benefits, such as improvements in endothelial function, lower systemic blood pressure, and reduced risks of cardiovascular diseases.
- supports: Benefits and risks of sauna bathing. (The American journal of medicine 2001)
"Although sauna bathing causes various acute, transient cardiovascular and hormonal changes, it is well tolerated by most healthy adults and children. Sauna bathing does not influence fertility and is safe during the uncomplicated pregnancies of healthy women. Some studies have suggested that long-term sauna bathing may help lower blood pressure in patients with hypertension and improve the left ventricular ejection fraction in patients with chronic congestive heart failure" (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: Cardiovascular and Other Health Benefits of Sauna Bathing: A Review of the Evidence. (Mayo Clinic proceedings 2018)
"Emerging evidence suggests that beyond its use for pleasure, sauna bathing may be linked to several health benefits, which include reduction in the risk of vascular diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and neurocognitive diseases; nonvascular conditions such as pulmonary diseases; mortality; as well as amelioration of conditions such as arthritis, headache, and flu. The beneficial effects of sauna bathing on these outcomes have been linked to its effect on circulatory, cardiovascular, and immune functions." (abstract, results, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - supports: Correlations between Repeated Use of Dry Sauna for 4 x 10 Minutes, Physiological Parameter… (BioMed research international 2019)
"A significant (p<0.0001) increase in all analyzed physiological parameters was observed during four successive 10-minute sauna sessions. Heart rate, energy expenditure, blood pressure, and body mass loss were most strongly correlated with anthropometric parameters" (abstract, results)
pubmedfull study (doi)
Fact-checked episodes
Publications
- Blocking lower facial features reduces emotion identification accuracy in static faces and full body dynamic expressions.Cognition & emotion 2026 · CEBM Level 3
- Multimodal semantic knowledge of emotion concepts in frontotemporal dementia.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences 2026 · CEBM Level 4
- Experiencing awe in daily life is linked to lower loneliness.Scientific reports 2026 · CEBM Level 3
- (When) is it okay to be angry? Children and adults' judgments in China and the United States.Child development 2026 · CEBM Level 3
- Well-being as a primary endpoint in clinical trials: a call for consensus.Npj mental health research 2026 · CEBM Level 5
- Towards a unified understanding of aesthetic emotions.Current opinion in psychology 2026 · CEBM Level 5
- Possible Worlds Theory: How the Imagination Transcends and Recreates Reality.Annual review of psychology 2025 · CEBM Level 5
- Emotion specificity, coherence, and cultural variation in conceptualizations of positive emotions: a study of body sensations and emotion recognition.Cognition & emotion 2025 · CEBM Level 4
- The role of emotion recognition in empathy.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2025 · CEBM Level 4
- Awe reduces depressive symptoms and improves well-being in a randomized-controlled clinical trial.Scientific reports 2025 · CEBM Level 2
- Touch as emotion regulation.Frontiers in psychology 2025 · CEBM Level 5
- The Gap Between Us: Income Inequality Reduces Social Affiliation in Dyadic Interactions.Personality & social psychology bulletin 2024 · CEBM Level 2
- Dispositional compassion shifts social preferences in systematic ways.Journal of personality 2024 · CEBM Level 3
- Deep learning reveals what facial expressions mean to people in different cultures.iScience 2024 · CEBM Level 3
- How emotion is experienced and expressed in multiple cultures: a large-scale experiment across North America, Europe, and Japan.Frontiers in psychology 2024 · CEBM Level 3
- Culture and Awe: Understanding Awe as a Mixed Emotion.Affective science 2024 · CEBM Level 3
- Emotional palette: a computational mapping of aesthetic experiences evoked by visual art.Scientific reports 2024 · CEBM Level 4
- A balanced mind: Awe fosters equanimity via temporal distancing.Journal of personality and social psychology 2024 · CEBM Level 2
- Considering distinct positive emotions in psychedelic science.International review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England) 2024 · CEBM Level 5
- Intersectional implicit bias: Evidence for asymmetrically compounding bias and the predominance of target gender.Journal of personality and social psychology 2023 · CEBM Level 3
- Awe as a Pathway to Mental and Physical Health.Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science 2023 · CEBM Level 5
- Meta-analytic evidence that attachment insecurity is associated with less frequent experiences of discrete positive emotions.Journal of personality 2023 · CEBM Level 1
- Deep learning reveals what vocal bursts express in different cultures.Nature human behaviour 2023 · CEBM Level 3
- Awe Sparks Prosociality in Children.Psychological science 2023 · CEBM Level 2
- Emotional Well-Being: What It Is and Why It Matters.Affective science 2023 · CEBM Level 5
- A Perfect Storm to Set the Stage for Ontological Exploration: Response to Commentaries on "Emotional Well-Being: What It Is and Why It Matters".Affective science 2023 · CEBM Level 5
- The nature and neurobiology of fear and anxiety: State of the science and opportunities for accelerating discovery.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews 2023 · CEBM Level 5
- The influences of daily experiences of awe on stress, somatic health, and well-being: a longitudinal study during COVID-19.Scientific reports 2023 · CEBM Level 3
- Higher emotional granularity relates to greater inferior frontal cortex cortical thickness in healthy, older adults.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience 2023 · CEBM Level 3
- Kin relationality and ecological belonging: a cultural psychology of Indigenous transcendence.Frontiers in psychology 2023 · CEBM Level 5
- Editorial: Community series: expanding the science of compassion, volume II.Frontiers in psychology 2023 · CEBM Level 5
- Theories of power: Perceived strategies for gaining and maintaining power.Journal of personality and social psychology 2022 · CEBM Level 3
- Big smile, small self: Awe walks promote prosocial positive emotions in older adults.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2022 · CEBM Level 2
- Intersectionality in emotion signaling and recognition: The influence of gender, ethnicity, and social class.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2022 · CEBM Level 3
- How emotions, relationships, and culture constitute each other: advances in social functionalist theory.Cognition & emotion 2022 · CEBM Level 5
- Awe, ideological conviction, and perceptions of ideological opponents.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2021 · CEBM Level 2
- Social Class Competence Stereotypes Are Amplified by Socially Signaled Economic Inequality.Personality & social psychology bulletin 2021 · CEBM Level 2
- Is Touch in Romantic Relationships Universally Beneficial for Psychological Well-Being? The Role of Attachment Avoidance.Personality & social psychology bulletin 2021 · CEBM Level 3
- Sixteen facial expressions occur in similar contexts worldwide.Nature 2021 · CEBM Level 3
- Semantic Space Theory: A Computational Approach to Emotion.Trends in cognitive sciences 2021 · CEBM Level 5
- The relationship of socioeconomic status in childhood and adulthood with compassion: A study with a prospective 32-year follow-up.PloS one 2021 · CEBM Level 3
- Awe, daily stress, and elevated life satisfaction.Journal of personality and social psychology 2021 · CEBM Level 2
- The rise of affectivism.Nature human behaviour 2021 · CEBM Level 5
- Neural correlates of ingroup bias for prosociality in rats.eLife 2021 · CEBM Level 5
- Editorial: Expanding the Science of Compassion.Frontiers in psychology 2021 · CEBM Level 5
- The dynamics of coping, positive emotions, and well-being: Evidence from Latin American immigrant farmworkers and college students during a time of political strife.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2021 · CEBM Level 3
- The recognition of 18 facial-bodily expressions across nine cultures.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2020 · CEBM Level 3
- What the face displays: Mapping 28 emotions conveyed by naturalistic expression.The American psychologist 2020 · CEBM Level 3
- Power, approach, and inhibition: empirical advances of a theory.Current opinion in psychology 2020 · CEBM Level 5
- Are awe-prone people more curious? The relationship between dispositional awe, curiosity, and academic outcomes.Journal of personality 2020 · CEBM Level 3
- What music makes us feel: At least 13 dimensions organize subjective experiences associated with music across different cultures.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2020 · CEBM Level 3
- Effects of Verbal and Nonverbal Communication of Affection on Avoidantly Attached Partners' Emotions and Message Receptiveness.Personality & social psychology bulletin 2020 · CEBM Level 3
- Reply to Bowling: How specific emotions are primary in subjective experience.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2020 · CEBM Level 5
- The Neural Representation of Visually Evoked Emotion Is High-Dimensional, Categorical, and Distributed across Transmodal Brain Regions.iScience 2020 · CEBM Level 3
- Machine learning uncovers the most robust self-report predictors of relationship quality across 43 longitudinal couples studies.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2020 · CEBM Level 3
- Universal facial expressions uncovered in art of the ancient Americas: A computational approach.Science advances 2020 · CEBM Level 3
- Parent-child-relationship quality predicts offspring dispositional compassion in adulthood: A prospective follow-up study over three decades.Developmental psychology 2019 · CEBM Level 3
- Mapping 24 emotions conveyed by brief human vocalization.The American psychologist 2019 · CEBM Level 3
- Income Inequality and White-on-Black Racial Bias in the United States: Evidence From Project Implicit and Google Trends.Psychological science 2019 · CEBM Level 3
- Toward a consensual taxonomy of emotions.Cognition & emotion 2019 · CEBM Level 5
- The primacy of categories in the recognition of 12 emotions in speech prosody across two cultures.Nature human behaviour 2019 · CEBM Level 3
- Mapping the Passions: Toward a High-Dimensional Taxonomy of Emotional Experience and Expression.Psychological science in the public interest : a journal of the American Psychological Society 2019 · CEBM Level 5
- Emotional Expression: Advances in Basic Emotion Theory.Journal of nonverbal behavior 2019 · CEBM Level 5
- What Basic Emotion Theory Really Says for the Twenty-First Century Study of Emotion.Journal of nonverbal behavior 2019 · CEBM Level 5
- It's the motive that counts: Perceived sacrifice motives and gratitude in romantic relationships.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2018 · CEBM Level 3
- Universals and cultural variations in 22 emotional expressions across five cultures.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2018 · CEBM Level 3
- Awe and humility.Journal of personality and social psychology 2018 · CEBM Level 3
- Hedge Fund Managers With Psychopathic Tendencies Make for Worse Investors.Personality & social psychology bulletin 2018 · CEBM Level 3
- Emotion in the wilds of nature: The coherence and contagion of fear during threatening group-based outdoors experiences.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2018 · CEBM Level 3
- Clarifying the Conceptualization, Dimensionality, and Structure of Emotion: Response to Barrett and Colleagues.Trends in cognitive sciences 2018 · CEBM Level 5
- Awe in nature heals: Evidence from military veterans, at-risk youth, and college students.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2018 · CEBM Level 3
- Awe as a Scientific Emotion.Cognitive science 2018 · CEBM Level 3
- The dark side of the sublime: Distinguishing a threat-based variant of awe.Journal of personality and social psychology 2017 · CEBM Level 3
- Social affiliation in same-class and cross-class interactions.Journal of experimental psychology. General 2017 · CEBM Level 3
- Awe, the diminished self, and collective engagement: Universals and cultural variations in the small self.Journal of personality and social psychology 2017 · CEBM Level 3
- Self-report captures 27 distinct categories of emotion bridged by continuous gradients.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2017 · CEBM Level 3
- Beyond happiness: Building a science of discrete positive emotions.The American psychologist 2017 · CEBM Level 5
- The voice conveys emotion in ten globalized cultures and one remote village in Bhutan.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2016 · CEBM Level 3
- Virtues, Vices, and Political Influence in the U.S. Senate.Psychological science 2016 · CEBM Level 3
- Positive affect and markers of inflammation: discrete positive emotions predict lower levels of inflammatory cytokines.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2015 · CEBM Level 3
- Affective and physiological responses to the suffering of others: compassion and vagal activity.Journal of personality and social psychology 2015 · CEBM Level 2
- Awe, the small self, and prosocial behavior.Journal of personality and social psychology 2015 · CEBM Level 2
- Short alleles, bigger smiles? The effect of 5-HTTLPR on positive emotional expressions.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2015 · CEBM Level 3
- How sacrifice impacts the giver and the recipient: insights from approach-avoidance motivational theory.Journal of personality 2014 · CEBM Level 3
- Speaking under pressure: low linguistic complexity is linked to high physiological and emotional stress reactivity.Psychophysiology 2014 · CEBM Level 3
- The sociocultural appraisals, values, and emotions (SAVE) framework of prosociality: core processes from gene to meme.Annual review of psychology 2014 · CEBM Level 5
- Teasing, taunting, and the politics of politeness: high sociometric status is associated with expectation-consistent behavior.PloS one 2014 · CEBM Level 2
- Vagal activity is quadratically related to prosocial traits, prosocial emotions, and observer perceptions of prosociality.Journal of personality and social psychology 2014 · CEBM Level 3
- What is shared, what is different? Core relational themes and expressive displays of eight positive emotions.Cognition & emotion 2013 · CEBM Level 3
- Social class rank, essentialism, and punitive judgment.Journal of personality and social psychology 2013 · CEBM Level 2
- Pride displays communicate self-interest and support for meritocracy.Journal of personality and social psychology 2013 · CEBM Level 2
- The things you do for me: perceptions of a romantic partner's investments promote gratitude and commitment.Personality & social psychology bulletin 2013 · CEBM Level 2
- The personal sense of power.Journal of personality 2012 · CEBM Level 3
- Me against we: in-group transgression, collective shame, and in-group-directed hostility.Cognition & emotion 2012 · CEBM Level 3
- An fMRI study of caring vs self-focus during induced compassion and pride.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience 2012 · CEBM Level 3
- Flustered and faithful: embarrassment as a signal of prosociality.Journal of personality and social psychology 2012 · CEBM Level 3
- Class and compassion: socioeconomic factors predict responses to suffering.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2012 · CEBM Level 3
- The virtues of gossip: reputational information sharing as prosocial behavior.Journal of personality and social psychology 2012 · CEBM Level 2
- Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2012 · CEBM Level 2
- Suppression sours sacrifice: emotional and relational costs of suppressing emotions in romantic relationships.Personality & social psychology bulletin 2012 · CEBM Level 3
- Contact high: Mania proneness and positive perception of emotional touches.Cognition & emotion 2012 · CEBM Level 3
- To have and to hold: gratitude promotes relationship maintenance in intimate bonds.Journal of personality and social psychology 2012 · CEBM Level 3
- The local-ladder effect: social status and subjective well-being.Psychological science 2012 · CEBM Level 2
- Social class, solipsism, and contextualism: how the rich are different from the poor.Psychological review 2012 · CEBM Level 5
- Class, chaos, and the construction of community.Journal of personality and social psychology 2012 · CEBM Level 2
- Gender and the Communication of Emotion Via Touch.Sex roles 2011 · CEBM Level 3
- A discrete emotions approach to positive emotion disturbance in depression.Cognition & emotion 2011 · CEBM Level 4
- Social power facilitates the effect of prosocial orientation on empathic accuracy.Journal of personality and social psychology 2011 · CEBM Level 3
- Social class rank, threat vigilance, and hostile reactivity.Personality & social psychology bulletin 2011 · CEBM Level 3
- Thin-slicing study of the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene and the evaluation and expression of the prosocial disposition.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2011 · CEBM Level 3
- Compassion, pride, and social intuitions of self-other similarity.Journal of personality and social psychology 2010 · CEBM Level 3
- Compassion: an evolutionary analysis and empirical review.Psychological bulletin 2010 · CEBM Level 5
- Having less, giving more: the influence of social class on prosocial behavior.Journal of personality and social psychology 2010 · CEBM Level 3
- Moving toward more perfect unions: daily and long-term consequences of approach and avoidance goals in romantic relationships.Journal of personality and social psychology 2010 · CEBM Level 3
- Social class, contextualism, and empathic accuracy.Psychological science 2010 · CEBM Level 3
- Tactile communication, cooperation, and performance: an ethological study of the NBA.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2010 · CEBM Level 3
- When giving feels good. The intrinsic benefits of sacrifice in romantic relationships for the communally motivated.Psychological science 2010 · CEBM Level 3
- Disgust and the moralization of purity.Journal of personality and social psychology 2009 · CEBM Level 3
- Social class, sense of control, and social explanation.Journal of personality and social psychology 2009 · CEBM Level 3
- The voice conveys specific emotions: evidence from vocal burst displays.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) 2009 · CEBM Level 3