>> I find ASMR stuff relaxing (and a bit of a substitute for healthy touch.) Don't think I've gotten the other effects...maybe I'm not...hmmm, centered down enough, I guess? <<
Possibly, but some of the effects could be there and just not something you've noticed separately. The tingle is distinctive, but if someone feels a notable relaxation, their metabolism usually drops with it. My suspicion is that certain things activate a cluster response, and not everyone may have all the parts of that response, but they're orienting on the tingle because it's less common and more identifiable than things like abrupt muscle relaxation, which is what I use to identify things that are strongly soothing for me.
>> I suspect the stimuli activate the mirror neurons. <<
That's an interesting hypothesis. If I think about what nerves are affected, I'll put my money on the ones that wrap around hair follicles, which are closely connected to the relaxation and pleasure systems -- and the tingle effect starts at the scalp and runs down the back of the neck.
>> I also suspect that human brains are hardwired to respond to this stuff - thinks like crackling fire, humming, someone doing handiwork has likely ment "safe" for well over two million years. <<
I agree.
Hell, every spacer responds to low engine noise as a safe/sleep sound. Even in another life, similar sounds will do it -- a car engine, a dryer, etc. I've known folks who made a loop tape of the Enterprise engine sound for sleeping.
>> I wonder if you could pick up some of these skills by accident, or cultural osmosis? <<
Some people can, especially those with a strong social intelligence. Bob built his from scratch, deliberately. He hated what the military did to his life are personality, so he chucked that and took purposeful steps to replace it with healthier choices, like never raising his voice. If you look at interviews or other writeups of his work, he revealed reasons for a fair bit of what he did, like choosing a plain studio and casual timeless clothes to minimize distractions.
I didn't realize how much of his teaching style I had absorbed until fans started asking me to write about him, and I went back to look up things. Really quite a lot, it turns out. I teach people that poetry isn't hard, anyone can do it, and it doesn't have to be Great Literature as long as it makes you happy or accomplishes the task you intended.
Thoughts
Possibly, but some of the effects could be there and just not something you've noticed separately. The tingle is distinctive, but if someone feels a notable relaxation, their metabolism usually drops with it. My suspicion is that certain things activate a cluster response, and not everyone may have all the parts of that response, but they're orienting on the tingle because it's less common and more identifiable than things like abrupt muscle relaxation, which is what I use to identify things that are strongly soothing for me.
>> I suspect the stimuli activate the mirror neurons. <<
That's an interesting hypothesis. If I think about what nerves are affected, I'll put my money on the ones that wrap around hair follicles, which are closely connected to the relaxation and pleasure systems -- and the tingle effect starts at the scalp and runs down the back of the neck.
>> I also suspect that human brains are hardwired to respond to this stuff - thinks like crackling fire, humming, someone doing handiwork has likely ment "safe" for well over two million years. <<
I agree.
Hell, every spacer responds to low engine noise as a safe/sleep sound. Even in another life, similar sounds will do it -- a car engine, a dryer, etc. I've known folks who made a loop tape of the Enterprise engine sound for sleeping.
>> I wonder if you could pick up some of these skills by accident, or cultural osmosis? <<
Some people can, especially those with a strong social intelligence. Bob built his from scratch, deliberately. He hated what the military did to his life are personality, so he chucked that and took purposeful steps to replace it with healthier choices, like never raising his voice. If you look at interviews or other writeups of his work, he revealed reasons for a fair bit of what he did, like choosing a plain studio and casual timeless clothes to minimize distractions.
I didn't realize how much of his teaching style I had absorbed until fans started asking me to write about him, and I went back to look up things. Really quite a lot, it turns out. I teach people that poetry isn't hard, anyone can do it, and it doesn't have to be Great Literature as long as it makes you happy or accomplishes the task you intended.