ASMR: An idea I haven't seen discussed before
I experience ASMR. I've heard that some people don't. When I started learning about it as a phenomenon that others experience as well it became interesting to me. It's interesting to me that it never occurred to me in the first place that others also experience ASMR, as though that didn't really matter.
Most "triggers" it seems come to people through the sound of clicks or rustling in an otherwise silent environment. Also from whispering (this is another aspect that I experience, not so much from the random sounds).
The one unique thing for me (that I don't see discussed) is I also sometimes experience ASMR when I see someone struggling through a problem they're trying to solve. Or so I thought. I just a few minutes ago started wondering whether the fact that I KNEW the answer to the problem they're trying to solve had anything to do with it. Then the rest started to gush downstream rapidly.
If the fact that I experience ASMR because I recognize that someone else doesn't know the answer to something that I do, could that be tied to some primal process for survival? I don't know if this is how others experience it but it is somewhat of a "rush". Could it be that it's a natural mechanism humans have used in order to "kickstart" the dopamine / adrenaline before they've had a chance to work up a sweat? (ie. survival).
If I'm being hunted, what do I need to be keenly aware of in an otherwise silent environment? The slightest of noises will be important hints that are meant to help me get out of what could be a dangerous situation. The experience of knowing something that someone else doesn't could be tied to strategy (hunting, etc). Once ancestors start recognizing patterns to help them survive could those become "engrained in your DNA", so to speak, to help future generations?