Three million people have watched this 12-minute video of a person eating honey comb and fried chicken. Every nuance of the first stage of digestion is clearly visible and audible. Microphones focus on noisy chewing and slurping sounds.
Why would anyone, let alone 3 million folks, watch someone eat honey comb? It has to do with ASMR, something I didn’t even know existed until today. Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, or ASMR, is a thing. It refers to a tingly, exciting euphoria that some people spontaneously experience when they are exposed to particular everyday events that the more callous of us don’t recognize as stimulating. These are everyday events like gum chewing, whispering, or, better yet, eating comb honey.
I can almost imagine people developing an elevated state of well-being from eating comb honey. But to feel that way by watching and hearing someone else eat honey? Excuse me, but really? Really? Have we become a world of watchers instead of doers?
According to a New York Times’ piece, How A.S.M.R. Became a Sensation, the “psychological oddity” [0f witnessing someone eat comb honey] is a powerful sensation among those lucky enough to get a charge out of uncommonly common stimuli. It sounds harmless, like a form of transcendence far healthier than the tingle of opioids. As the Times reported, it can arrive “in a wave, like a warm effervescence, making its way down the length of [the] spine and leaving behind a sense of gratitude and wholeness.” Read the article if you must know more.
Personally, I don’t get it. But apparently many of the three million people who have watched the noisy demolition of a large chunk of comb honey and several hunks of chicken receive some pleasant benefit. I’m just pointing you towards a cultural phenomenon that’s new, and (I think) rather odd. But as we used to say in the old days, whatever floats your boat. At least the video will likely boost comb honey sales for the Savannah Bee Company.
Bad Beekeeping Blog 
A sad sign of the times I’m afraid
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People need to get out more and do some honest, shovel-in-hand work.
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Brains are complex and so interesting. On the other end of the spectrum are those with misophonia, for whom even looking at that photo is painful, anticipating the toe curling stomach churning sounds!
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I probably don’t have misophonia, but I do find the sounds of the video annoying.
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I think the whole display is revolting. Hundreds of years ago, supposedly, great feasts by the royals or other elites had loud accompaniment of burping, slurping, etc to add audible distinction to the repast. I think some cultures still do it. But to film it and the gorging and put it out there as a “entertainment” ? Ugghhhh…..
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I didn’t watch the video but I read the linked article and it seemed more sad than revolting—people needing online stimuli because of a lack of human interaction.
And I say that as someone who really doesn’t care for much human interaction.
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People are peculiar, aren’t they? Here, it’s apparently not so much ‘entertainment’ as a method to approach euphoric nirvana. It does the opposite for me. But that speaks loudly about human differences.
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Watching rather than doing does seem to be a trend. Look at the rise in e-sports and the industry of paying to watch someone else play a computer game. I guess it’s a way to get the experience without going to the trouble and time of sourcing the chicken and honey. Not quite the same though!
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