Neuroaesthetics, Sublime, and Well-Being: Positive Affect of Awe and Aesthetic Emotions, and a Practical Framework

Aesthetic experiences influence the way we perceive the world, often at a subliminal level. But relatively little is known about how these aesthetic experiences affect us cognitively and how they shape our identity and improve our well-being. The purpose of this paper is thus to: (1) examine and review the current literature in the emerging field of neuroaesthetics—how the brain responds to beauty and sublime experiences; (2) extrapolate from current literature the properties of beauty and what it means when people perceive something to be beautiful; (3) synthesize the current literature and my own research on the topic to bring more awareness on the health benefits and transcendent power of experiencing awe or sublimity; (4) use the PERMA (positive emotion, engagement, relationship, meaning, achievement) theory of well-being proposed by positive psychologist Martin Seligman to present an action framework I established, acronymed NUMA (nature walks, unconditional love, meditation, affirmative goals). Within this paper, I argue that these perceptually aesthetic experiences (which can happen in a variety of forms such as in nature, artworks, music, or poetry) elicit in us a sense of awe and wonder, which performs a “scale effect” or “overview effect” on us and if experienced regularly could guide us toward living a more meaningful life.