Why Do We Get Goosebumps? – ‘The Why’

Why do we get goosebumps?

Welcome to today’s edition of The Why.

Everywhere you look the media is pushing you telling you who to follow, what to watch and when to watch it.   You’re even sometimes told how to do it all.  Truth is, here at American Live Wire we do a bit of that too.  The big difference is we also tell you why.

You ask the questions.  We provide the answers.

“Why do we get goosebumps?” you ask?

Today’s question comes from musician Sonny Rock. Rock posed the question: “Why do we get goosebumps?” Excellent! Yet another chance to demonstrate that there is mental life and memory after the age of . . . well, never mind.)  If memory servesâ€"(and it does because we always try to check our facts here at American Live Wire)â€"there only a couple of reasons why most people get goosebumps so let’s get right to it.

Why do we get goosebumps?/Image: Wikipedia

“Why do we get goosebumps?” We get goosebumps because we are cold. When we feel a chill the muscles that surround our hair follicles react.  The muscles contract and that makes the hairs stand up.

Director of the Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, in Washington, D.C, anthropologist Richard Potts, PhD, explains it in further detail noting that when the hairs stand up it creates “a layer of insulation” thus the “bumps”. It’s a trait we share with other mammals but we simply don’t have enough hair on our bodies to make much of a difference in our appearances.

It harkens back to the days when we humans had furry coats. Potts is one of many who believe that a long time ago when our ancestors’ copious body hair stood on end, they looked scary and threatening. This would cause potential predators to “move on to look for less imposing prey.”

OK that’s one answer to the question: “Why do we get goosebumps?” What are the others? You ask? (Coming right up!)

“Why do we get goosebumps?” We get goosebumps when we’re scared. (Well, yours truly doesn’t get scared because he has kids and has been married already but you get the point.) The body reacts in the exact same manner when something frightens us.

Why do we get goosebumps?/Image: Desnorteado

Those of us who are single and have been exposed to online dating and websites like Craigslist and ChatRoulette have something to ad in response to the question: “Why Do We Get Goosebumps?” It seems being unpleasantly startled by pictures of incredibly unattractive people smiling as if they think they are attractive as well as seeing way too much of people one would have no interest in doing the “Horizontal Bop’ weith also can cause goosebumps (and near epileptic-like bodily shuddering).

“Why Do We Get Goosebumps?” Now you know.

You ask the questions.  We provide the answers.

American Live Wire . . . Listen and be heard.

Why Do We Get Goosebumps? â€" “The Why”