I agree that it's “kind of shocking that we’ve got so far from our own natural ability to calm down that we need external devices to do so”.
I'd still be interested to try this, though - I had mad anxiety and compulsive behaviours for a long time, and the thing that really helped was finding a buddhist center with regular meditation sessions. I could almost feel my brain making different connections... it's hard to explain. It took months of practice to get anywhere, though - and not everyone has time for or access to stuff like this.
So if there's a short cut, it could be cool? I'd be interested to see what Hubski thinks...