March 29, 2024
Why Dazzling the World Can Help Memory and Make Us More Generous

Why Dazzling the World Can Help Memory and Make Us More Generous

  • David Robson*
  • BBC Worklife

A man witnessing the aurora borealis

credit, Getty Images

Illustrative image,

Dazzling can improve memory, increase creativity, and reduce anxiety

When Ethan Cross gets into a mental cycle of anxiety and negative thoughts, he walks five blocks to his neighborhood park to contemplate one of the wonderful trees there and the amazing power of nature.

If he can’t make it to the park, he spends a few moments contemplating the wonderful possibilities offered by planes and space travel. “I keep thinking about the way we were trying to start fires, a few thousand years ago, and now we can land safely on another planet,” he says.

The purpose, in this case, is to raise eyebrows—which he defines as “the wonderful feeling of finding something we can’t easily explain.”

Cross’s habits are based on scientific evidence. As a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan in the US, he knows that feelings of wonder can have a very profound effect on the mind – increasing our memory and creativity, as well as inspiring us to act more altruistically towards the people around us. We showed up. It can also have a profound effect on our mental health, allowing us to put our fears into perspective.