Korean Job Discussion Forums

[orosee]

Off-topic forum seems to be best suited for this question.

Does anybody know why certain sounds (finger nails on chalkboard, fluorescent tube pulled out of its carton, ...) create goose bumps and make you cringe?

I would think that it is an involuntary reaction similar to the ones we have when we smell vomit, feces; our fear/disgust of insects esp. spiders; something programmed deep into our brains through evolution.

But, is there a scientific explanation already? I'm still looking for a useful Google query so maybe there's a quicker answer here.

I've started from the point that goose bumps are actually our hair standing up, so my best guess so far is that these sounds trigger a fear reflex from the time when we were rodents sharing space with dinosaurs - or even earlier, in the oceans, the high pitched shrieks of a predator (before they got the frequencies right to use ultrasound). Of course that may just be rubbish.

Any ideas? By the way, my Korean colleagues did not seem to notice these sounds today (maintenance guy replaced a few f-tubes).

[Crockpot2001]

In a good way...a Marshall Stack behind a Gibson SG

No, wait!

A fretless 5 string Warwick into a mess of hartke 10's on low or a SV-10 cabinet on "loud".
http://www.ampeg.com/products/classic/svt810e/index.html

[schwa]

Google "fingernails on chalkboard reflex" & you'll find its been researched. Apparently it sounds like a chimpanzee warning cry.

Doesnt bother me but it sure makes my students cringe.

[Lao Wai]

Hi,

Besides being horribly cold and painful at 7 AM, the sound made when I scrape the frost from my car windows gives me goose bumps. The combination of the noise and the cold now has me in the market for a remote car starter.

[orosee]

[seonsengnimble]

The sound doesn't bother me so much as the feeling in my fingertips when doing it. The sound of unglazed clay scraping unglazed clay, however makes me cringe terribly.

[orosee]

[Underwaterbob]

The art teacher had my students working on some extremely obnoxious art project. They use these white plastic sheets with some black concoction stuck to it that they have to meticulously scrape off with exacto knives. I wouldn't mind so much if they'd just stop doing it in my class and it didn't sound like a helium huffing cat being skinned alive.

[yeti08]

I experience 'goose bumps' more from nostalic sounds, so the start up for any movie dubbed with the THX gets me every time.

[vincentmiser]

Agreed, the THX theme is awesome, recently I heard for the first time in a long time and I couldn't remember how long the 'fall' went on for...so it was great to be surprised, and surprised again and again until it finally resolved. Awesome.

For me, in a good way, hearing a good symphony orchestra live.
A few weeks ago I went and listened to the Seoul Philharmonic.
Man, oh man... The sound is everywhere, not just coming out of two speakers. Amazing.

[vincentmiser]

Another one, I used to play organ for a big Anglican church in my city, a stunning Norwegian instrument. 2x 32ft pipes and three manuals.

.............

You can feel the bass notes vibrating inside your body. wow

[Rusty Shackleford]

[Xuanzang]

My VP's hacking cough after lunch.

[The Gipkik]

Yeah, for me goose bumps are either from the cold or sounds that I find seductively pleasant. Scratching a blackboard irritates me like a hoard of mosquitoes, but it doesn't have any noticeable visceral effects.

I remember being in grade 8 and listening to other students give short show and tell speeches. One girl in particular, she wasn't the prettiest girl, in fact she looked a bit disheveled, but her way of speaking, a mellifluous and soothing sound, gave me goose bumps and chills down my spine. It almost acted like a drug on me. I felt sedated for a couple of minutes after her little speech. It's only happened a few times in my life, but I've occasionally wondered about the cause.

[pangaea]