It can be quite hard to understand that emotions play a fundamental role in our evolutionary biology. This is mainly because emotional science historically focused on the negative aspects of emotions such as anger and fear. Dacher Keltner paid a second visit to the podcast with the publication of his excellent new book Awe.

We have difficult emotions which cause us all kinds of problems, but they can also be seen in a prosocial, evolutionary light. Fear and anger can help to save us in a life threatening situation. Love, friendship and wonderment, or as Dacher calls it, awe, help to bind us human beings together, and we really need that right now, given the state of the world.

Dacher is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, who directs the Berkeley Social Interaction Lab.He is the founder and faculty director of the Greater Good Science Center, and host of the podcast The Science of Happiness.