Most of you are going to think this is pretty strange, but hear me out.

There's this thing known as "ASMR", which stands for "autonomous sensory meridian response". The technical definition would be "a euphoric experience characterized by a static-like or tingling sensation on the skin that typically begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine, precipitating relaxation". From a person who watches and/or listens to ASMR videos and recordings, ASMR is basically getting tingles from hearing what someone decides are comforting sounds, be they voices or tapping fingers on a counter top.

Thank you, Internet, for that definition.

The term "ASMR" has been thrown around for several years now, after being (relatively) popularized in the YouTube community. As far as the YouTube front goes, it originally began as a sort of whispering community, where people who enjoyed hearing people whisper congregated. It may sound weird, but you shouldn't judge, seeing as at one point in your life you probably chewed on the spikey, hooked end of Velcro. Not that those two are equivalent or anything, don't start with me.

I myself am an avid ASMR video-watcher-person. For me, though I may not get body-shaking tingles, I do get the occasional, tingling, pleasurable feeling of comfort. Anything from a whispered voice to a medley of tappings can cause me some degree of relaxation, and I often use these videos as a way to fall asleep at night (I say often, when I should say "every night" rather than "at night," but oh well).

Before you start judging, I honestly thought the whole thing was bat-shit when I first heard of it. I was the same way with Game of Thrones; like, why the heck would anyone like any of it? Of course, I'd never tried watching both ASMR and Game of Thrones, so I gave both a try and ended up loving them both. Call me a mindless consumer, but it's a damn good show in my opinion (there's my plug, ha-HA).

Now, there's a debate going on in the scientific community (those that have taken the time to do some form of research concerning autonomous sensory meridian responses, that is), that is questioning whether or not ASMR provides any medical benefits or if it's all just some sort of placebo effect; the relaxation and the tingles. I myself believe that we have subconsciously associated the sounds that we find relaxing with sounds from our childhood that were comforting. For example, a kind, gentle voice from a teacher as they quietly explained a word problem to you while trying to avoid bothering nearby students, or the tapping of someone typing away at a keyboard; things that you may not have noticed, but provided you comfort and some semblance of familiarity.

So, yeah, that's what ASMR is in a rough summation. If you'd like to know more about ASMR, there are many channels on YouTube devoted to the production of ASMR videos. Several such channels would be "GentleWhispering", "EphemeralRift", "WhispersRedASMR"... the list goes on. Check those out if you'd like to see first-hand what ASMR videos are, and maybe you'll be one of those people who enjoys it. You may even be a person who gets those mind-blowingly intense tingles that I've heard so much about, who knows?

Stay cl(ass)y, folks.