Goosebumps........

[Furiously-Fancy]

Some things in life are difficult to explain. What's your take on Goosebumps? With all the "ingenuity" around here......... thought we might shed some new light on the "goosebump-phenomenon".

*Why do we get'em??
*How do we get'em?
*When do we get 'em?

Go ahead throw in your "two-cents"!

[Furiously-Fancy]

I found this on a web search, but I'm sure some of u pw.c'ers have a better explanation than this.........

What is the purpose of goose bumps?
04-Oct-2001


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Dear Straight Dope:

What is the biological function of goose bumps? --Ray Gaynor

SDSTAFF Ken replies:

It's a skin level response, trying to make a sweater for you, sort of.

What we call goose bumps (the physiological response, not the R. L. Stine books) is the body's attempt to retain heat. Technically known as piloerection, the bumps are caused by a small muscular response, which raises the hair on one's arms or legs (most heat loss is here) and creates a mat of hair, which traps a layer of air next to the skin. This layer holds the heat next to the body, exactly the way a down vest does. Trouble is, human beings no longer have the thick coats of hair that their ancestors did, so the insulating response is no longer as effective as it once was. We still have the muscles that make this try to happen, but we no longer have enough fur to make it work. You can see this same response in animals, especially the common house cat. When a cat is cold or frightened, its fur will stand up due to the same muscular response. It is still a useful trait for them, as they still need to conserve heat, and by increasing their overall volume, they can often frighten away predators much larger than themselves.

--SDSTAFF Ken
Straight Dope Science Advisory Board

[*Brown Eyed Gurl*]

i get them when i get bitten on the shoulder actually...lol

[crazywolf]

something to think about for sure

Boozhoo niji,


Not only do you get em, but you can get em in different places, you know how you get the hair to stand up on the back of your neck, or just on your arms, or maybe your arms and legs, and then there are the chills up and down your spine.

So whatas the word?

Derek

[Singing Otter]

i get them when i get bitten on the shoulder actually...lol

LMAO U R soooooooo wrong for that! But I hear ya hahahaha.

[*Brown Eyed Gurl*]

SOMETIMES I POST B4 I THINK ..LOL...OH WELLS...ITS TRUE

[little wolf]

I get goose bumps when somethings happen. For instance when I was at the pow wow, I got um when a certain song was played. I get them when I hear a sad story or an eerie one. And of course like BEGS when I'm slightly bitten on my shoulder and back and neck..

[little wolf]

Oh yeah, when it's cold.. and my body is trying to make a sweater *lol*

[AngelFeather]

Oh yeah, when it's cold.. and my body is trying to make a sweater *lol*

LW.... rofl.. damn girl No such Funnies so early in the morn... hahaha bout choked on muh coffee. hehe..

Soooo with that all said... ya know our fur coats and stuff I got to thinking... If we had fur like waaaaaaaaaay back when.. does this prove the evolution theory? I mean that we were monkeys at one time... or does it mean we were just hairy people sent from god that eventually lost our fur due to evolution of times rather than of humans? are we really related to Susie Monkey??

Im Just wondering...

Okay So if we evolved from Monkeys.. does that mean we still evolving from them?? If So... I say...

Set all the Monkeys in the Zoo free.... give them a chance.. rofl...actually they have it pretty good there..they get shelter free eduction .. health care.. food ect...Ok Im justy being silly now.. I know.. it was a long late night.. hehe thats my excuse and im stikin to it!!! Damnit...

[little wolf]

I always wondered about being decendants from monkeys.... cuz if so.. how come they ain't changing form?

[~pathwalker~]

--

LW, I get them when I here good music too, always have.

I also get them when I am talkin BS to someone who's buying it and I say "You know it's true cause I am gettin Goose Bumps!" LOL........

[*Brown Eyed Gurl*]

I GETS THEM DURING GRAND ENTRY..LOL....SPECIALLY WHEN THE MENS FANCY COMES IN....OH AND WHEN I GET SCARED

[AngelFeather]

*Ya know when you ya feel the hairs on the back of your neck stan up?... well its THEM ... I see Dead people ...Tell them to go away*

[~pathwalker~]

I always wondered about being decendants from monkeys.... cuz if so.. how come they ain't changing form?

I saw this chimp on TV that smokes cigs. Visitor's to the zoo keep throwing them to him and he imitates people by smoking them, he even inhales! I say that is evolving! The zookeepers are trying to get him to quit but people keep giving them to him and they have put up signs NOT TO give him smokes.

[Singing Otter]

I get em during a reaaaaaaaaally good song. When I'm listening to a killer performance the hair on my arms will stand up... When I'm really mad and bout to beat some azz the hair on my neck will stand up. When I saw my sister in laws dead father glowing in the bathroom, EVERY hair on my body stood up. *hella-creepy* Why is it that when you see some (creepy) things like that you get goosebumps and other times you don't?