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Some things we can't believe are real due to their aesthetic value. "The beauty found in art and nature is so intense that sometimes you just have to pause and take it in," psychologist Gema Sánchez Cuevas writes for Exploring Your Mind.
A beautiful landscape, a fascinating work of art or a moving poem have the power to trigger a positive emotion in us. Professor at the University of Barcelona Rafael Bisquerra refers to them as "aesthetic emotions." According to him, "art – or any object creating beauty – can spark numerous responses in people, both positive and negative – which have their roots in emotional response."
In reality, we're not only moved or interested in things that are pleasing to the eye. "The brain is also fascinated by mysterious things that arouse an intense interest in us," psychologist Valeria Sabater writes.
When there's a stimulus that combines the known with the unknown, it inspires, interests and arouses our brains. Our minds love a mystery and strive to solve it. Let's take that picture of the frozen bamboo in Kyoto. It automatically makes us ask: "How does this happen?"
How else can we describe this feeling of fascination? It's definitely positive: it makes us feel happy, joyful, inspired, interested and amazed. Sabater calls this "a psycho-physiological state of great transcendence."
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Why is fascination so powerful? As Sabater puts it, "every stimulus that generates fascination in us almost instantly activates our limbic system." That's the part of our brain that regulates our behavioral and emotional responses. "Once this area is stimulated, endorphins (pleasure hormones) are released, which can even help people focus and flow with new ideas," Sabater writes.
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The psychologist also pulls out an interesting fact related to the origin of the word "fascinate". It has its roots in the Latin word "to bewitch." It had a negative connotation in the past and people associated it with controlling a person against their will. However, nowadays the word "fascinate" has a light-hearted connotation, referring to feelings of well-being.
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Fascination's not-so-distant cousin awe also has its own impressive amount of research. "People can experience awe when confronted with a vast natural landscape, like Zion or the Grand Canyon, or when listening to extraordinary, complex music. People might also feel awe when witnessing an extraordinary act by another person or while viewing art that changes how they see the world," according to the Arizona State University.
