Multiple Os

Those of you who read the Cliff metaphor post, which shows why all techniques for what people commonly call NEOs or ruined orgasms involve edging, might have this question:

Why do people not experience the lower-threshold responses on their way to the maximum-threshold response/the Point of No Return (PONR)?

If the theory of threshold-specific response (also called zone theory) were true, it would follow that every person would have a NEO (plateau-phase burst contractions), then a ruined orgasm (plateau-phase emissions with burst contractions), and finally reach orgasm at the point of no return (PONR) on the way up? However, this does not occur and for a good reason.

The key word is “resonant.” They are resonant thresholds rather than simple thresholds. One must “resonant” at the thresholds in the high plateau phase for the NEO or ruined orgasm response to occur. It does not need to be a long time, a second or so, rather than rapidly passed through the zones as often occurs when one feels close to cumming.

A useful analogy is a set of singing bowls. Each bowl has its own resonant frequency and requires not only sufficient energy but also the correct pattern of stimulation to ring. Larger bowls generally require more energy than smaller bowls, but energy alone is not enough. The mallet must move at the appropriate speed and maintain contact in the correct way to produce resonance.

Likewise, the various threshold-specific responses associated with the Onuf’s nucleus are have their own resonant activation zones. The sum of top-down and bottom-up potentiation must not only reach a threshold but also resonate around that threshold long enough for the corresponding response to emerge.