The Psychology behind Why It Is So Satisfying To Watch People Eat.
and the thrilling feeling that comes with it.
“FOOD PORN”
Whoever came up with the idea of MUKBANG is god damn genius. I mean — we love cooking, we love the process of cooking but nothing beats the reaction and facial expressions of people when they taste/eat food, the sounds of chewing and crunching are like therapy to the ears.
Cooking shows like, “Cooking with Gordon Ramsay and kitchen nightmare” is an example of why people love to see people eat. People tune in to watch Gordon Ramsay’s reactions and the priceless facial expressions on the faces of guests that describe how the food or soup tastes, the eww’s and mmhhs.
Have you ever watched someone eat? How was it, Satisfying right.
So why is watching people eat so addictive and comfortable? The answer is simple — ASMR(Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response). ASMR is a relaxing and often seductive sensation we feel at the top of our scalp and down the body, It is the same feeling we get from watching people eat, bite or chew food — ASMR is often termed as brain massage.
People say watching ASMR and Mukbang videos are disgusting and I disagree, I mean it is their opinion but if you have ever been to a food eating competition, you probably have been cheering and screaming for a particular person to eat and eat faster that is what ASMR is all about the tingling sensation you get from watching people eat.
So What is Mukbang? a quick history.
If you are still reading at this point you probably wondering what the hell is Mukbang? well if you know okay, but if you don't Mukbang is actually a Korean word “muk-ja”(let's eat) and (bang-song)broadcast. Muk bang is a very popular genre on youtube where YouTubers record themselves live eating large amounts of food that an ordinary person would not consume in a day.
The first Mukbang video I watched, was from a Korean Youtuber called Tzuyang. She ordered a 50cm fried egg with a gigantic lunch box which I think is crazy. what surprises me the most about these Mukbang korean Youtubers is how tiny they look and how they can consume huge amounts of food.
In short, the reason why we enjoy ASMR and Mukbang/or eating videos varies from person to person. Some people watch for pleasure, the crunchiness, the story. while others watch out of loneliness and boredom.
This is a link to other stories or articles I wrote feel free to comment, clap and share. https://medium.com/@YOUNG-Dumb.
