as nearly pathological. Of course, these behaviors also occur in the
rest of the population, likely in about the same percentages as in
HSSs. And high sensation-seeking can also be a wonderful gift.
For example, one of the key unifying themes I found
throughout my research is that HSSs have a tendency to engage in
daily activities that provide a sense of awe, that goose-bump laden
feeling that we all know. I have started to think of them as awe-
seekers. Think about the kinds of things we have seen sensation-
seekers doing: whether it’s racing around town at 100 miles
an hour, experiencing numb lips from fugu, running obstacle
courses, BASE jumping, or even eating pig’s blood stew, experien-
cing awe is part of the reward. It turns out that awe is pretty good
for your body, and this may be one of the reasons HSSs go out of
their way to seek it.
Researchers from UC Berkeley asked 94 students to fill out
questionnaires that told the researchers how frequently the stu-
dents experienced different emotions. The students supplied saliva
samples, which were then analyzed for interleukin-6 (IL-6),
a molecule known to promote inflammation throughout the
body. Inflammation is tied to poor health, and low IL-6 might signal
good health. Happy emotions were linked to lower IL-6 levels. But
the strongest correlation was with a surprising emotion: awe. The
more frequently someone reported having felt awestruck, the
lower the IL-6.^1
Could it be that the HSS’s physiology is encouraging them to
seek out awe? Do they drive fast, even recklessly at times, to drive
down inflammation levels? Could eating goat cheese-flavored ice
cream or a bowl of chicken hearts actually make someone heal-
thier? Is it possible that doing a Tough Mudder race may improve
your health instead of endangering it?
These questions are beyond the scope of this book, and, in
truth, we may never have the answers to them. But one thing is
clear: high sensation-seekers spend much of their daily lives push-
ing the bill to seek out experiences that promote a sense of awe.
When it comes to the human condition, few emotions are as power-
ful or as telling about who we are and what we value. In a world that
is increasingly mechanized, atomized, and polarized, perhaps what
the high sensation-seeker is really after is the same thing the
ancient mystics were seeking – a sense of wonder about the world
in which we live. Is this a super power? I’m not sure. But personally,
I can’t think of a better buzz.177 / Conclusionterms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108557252.010
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