• What do you think about the ideas Krukowski lays out in this episode? Does he adequately describe the intimacies afforded by sound and the tradeoff digital sound presents? In your answer, please incorporate at least one quotation from the episode.

When we speak, we are able to communicate our feelings and emotions through sound. Every word said has a deeper meaning behind it. In the third episode of “Ways of Hearing”, Damon Krukowski explains how the age of digital technology has taken away the intimacy of sound in turn for efficiency. Most notably, Krukowski says “The sound of our voice across the digital line is limited. It’s stripped to that minimum we need to recognize a voice and decode its words.” I agree because In a way we are limited. Often through contemporary media, we hear words and associate them with meaning, not feeling. Although the compression of sound through modern technology allows us to deliver our voice to a wider audience, it takes away the emotion that is captured in that of analog recordings. The inability to capture human emotion through these digital recordings takes away the intimacy of the experience. They take away the personal feel integrated by stripping it down to a bare form.

• The New York Times article “How A.S.M.R. Became a Sensation” presents something like the opposite situation by providing an example of how digital tools are being used to circulate the intimate experience certain every day and passing sounds induce. What do you see as the most interesting or important point about sound in this short history of A.S.M.R.? 

Although A.S.M.R has recently become a phenomenon, as Keiles stated, the perplexing effects induced by this digital trend have been questioned since the early 2000s. Often caused by otherwise common triggers such as the sound of chalk against a chalkboard, or the obnoxious chewing of food, societal acceptance of it was incomprehensible up until recent years. Personally, I’m not intrigued by the concept. That being said, others around me seem to enjoy these videos quite a lot. I believe the most interesting point I picked up on about the various sounds in A.S.M.R was their ability to cause a physiological, euphoric feeling without actual physical interaction.  “A tingling that spread through her scalp as the camera pulled back to show the marble of the earth. It came in a wave, like a warm effervescence, making its way down the length of her spine and leaving behind a sense of gratitude and wholeness.” This part of the reading stood out to me because it explores the connection between the psychological and physiological effects of A.S.M.R. The way Keiles describes these feelings highlights how the intimate range of emotions delivered through the simplicity of sound form these personal bubbles for society to indulge in.