Sam Kriss

Why ASMR is evil

There's something deeply dystopian about this multi-million pound industry, in which people swap videos that gave them nice tingly feelings

At the exhibition you wander around, plug yourself in, get cosy, and watch a softly spoken Scandinavian man gently fingering some bed linens. Credit: Ed Reeve for the design museum 
issue 03 December 2022

In 1954, the psychologist James Olds made a few ordinary rats the happiest rodents that had ever lived. He had directly wired an electrode into the rats’ brains, plugging into the septal area, which he believed might have something to do with the experience of pleasure. When he passed a small electric current through the electrode, the rats seemed to enjoy the experience.

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