Goose bumps are created when tiny muscles at the base of each hair, known as arrectores pilorum, contract and pull the hair erect. The reflex is started by the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for many fight-or-flight responses.
As a response to cold: in animals covered with fur or hair, the erect hairs trap air to create a layer of insulation. Goose bumps can also be a response to anger or fear: the erect hairs make the animal appear larger, in order to intimidate enemies. This can be observed in the intimidation displays of chimpanzees, in stressed mice and rats, and in frightened cats. In humans, it can even extend to piloerection as a reaction to hearing nails scratch on a chalkboard, listening to awe-inspiring music, or feeling or remembering strong and positive emotions (e.g., after winning a sports event). Some people have learned to will goose bumps at any time they please.
Piloerection as a response to cold or emotion is vestigial in humans. As we retain only very little body hair, the reflex now provides no known benefit.
In humans, goose bumps are strongest on the forearms, but also occur on the legs, neck, and other areas of the skin that have hair. In some people, they even occur in the face or on the head.
In humans, the areolas of the breasts of females typically show piloerection because of hormonal distribution, for example, when aroused or inside the maternity cycle.
Piloerection is also a classic symptom of some diseases, such as temporal lobe epilepsy, some brain tumors, and autonomic hyperreflexia. Goose bumps can also be caused by withdrawal from opiates such as heroin.[selected text from wikipedia] (Just to show you I'm not making this up.)
The Cheese calls them "The Dodaddies", they come in 4 kinds. 1. Cold. 2. Sex 3. Religious reaction 4. Scary story.
Number 1 happens all at once: I'm warm, Bingo! I'm cold! No transition. No slow goosebump development. No bumps/all over bumps.
Number 2 happens with a sexy move with the fingers by the partner of choice. The Cheese loves number 2 goosebumps. They start AT the spot of touching and spread instantly to the cock...it gets a really BIG goosebump.
Number 3 happens when the Deity of choice moves on you. When the goddess moves on the Cheese the goosebumps start at the small hairs on the back of his neck and flush down the front of his chest, the front of his arms and then move around to the back. Eventually they get to the front of his legs and he's probably going to fall down or take off running. He's also been seen gathering excess power from the air and spinning it into a ball. When he's got a big wad of power built up he can throw it or pour it on someone who needs it.
Number 4 happens when you get to the real scary part of a really scary movie. When the Cheese gets these goosebumps they start on the back of his arms then move to the back of his ears, and move to the top of his head. Number 4 bumps make his skin crawl. It ripples. He's going to look behind to see what's following. The Cheese hates Number 4 goosebumps even though they've saved his life a number of times. Since Rosemary's Baby, The Cheese doesn't go to scary movies. Call him Chickenshit, whatever, he puked in the parking lot on the way to the car.
Some folks never get them. Too bad. The Cheese gets Number 4 bumps whenever things are about to go wrong, or when someone is going to tell a scary story, like, right now!
Bill related the tale of the discovery of the village to the folks at the town meeting, up to the point where Lori went into the cave by herself. This, of course, had Carol, and the female part of the family, shrieking and carrying on like gangbusters. Jo was whitefaced speechless. The only thing that got the crowd under control was Jo hitting the ground with a thud...she passed out. Bill, Jimmy, Kurt (her OWN BROTHER!! can you imagine? her own brother!), and The Cheese were suddenly out of favor and it was going to be a damn long time before any of them get laid again, if ever!
So...there's people patting Jo's cheeks, people calming Carol and family, people picking on the perps, and Two Voices speaks up.
"Lori was there because I couldn't stop her from going. As soon as she realized the situation was beyond her powers she called for me. She even had a plan and it worked."
Lori decided it was her turn to speak. "The carpets have pusherfields that keep things out but we couldn't turn them off to pick up the kids because the crazy old man had guns and had already proved he would shoot. I got Bill and the Cheese to force the old coot ,nice word: old coot, I like it. They forced the old coot into the tunnel and outside using the carpets as blockers and pushers. It took a while but eventually they got him outside and away from the kids."
"Bill came rushing back, dropped the field and got the kids on the carpet." The Cheese continued, "He had to leave the carpet to pick up Number Six. The old man had hit her when she tried to call for help. By this time the old guy had gone to one of the houses and was trying to call someone on a small phone, but it didn't work. We left him there in a garage trying to make one of the vehicles move."
One of the 10 year old boys spoke up, "He kept us boys for slave labor in his gardens and for meat and the girls for breeding stock. You found us just in time."
Two Voices said, "his last teen girl died in childbirth and these children are too young to breed. He was already crazy but the death drove him violent. His mind was a swirl of hate and guilt and I couldn't do anything with him. He was over 200 years old. There was some force in the Lab that kept him alive beyond his years. It was all I could do to read when the lab staff was removed. The old coot, I like the name, too, Lori, the old coot was a young lab laborer working in the reactor part of the facility when the main research group was removed. The semi-literate "expendables" were left to fend for themselves. The people in charge of this experiment were not nice. I examined the area and found mass graves that had been uncovered by predatory scavengers. From the evidence left behind the research group was removed by bullets. We're going to have to make sure there are no more villages."
Jo, finally recovered, but, sickened by the story. said, "Do we have to? Can't we just leave it alone?"
"Jo, said Two Voices, "you have to be safe here. The last thing you need is discovery. There are beings from my time who don't want this to work."
What do you mean?"
"There are those who have published works that deny your species can change. If you prove them wrong they will lose their funding and probably lose their teaching positions. Some of them have prestigious positions at top schools. Those schools will suffer also."
"Those are pretty words from a people without war."
"I didn't say we had no pride. Anyway, the old coot has managed to stay alive by breeding the remaining marginal workers and eating the surplus."
"Lori said, "One thing we need to do right now is find out what the children have named themselves or name them. The old coot just gave them numbers."
"By the way," mentioned Kurt, "they all have identical barcode tattoos on the arm and back of the neck."