Ok, my subject header is cliche, but here's a theory I've been knocking around for a while.
I often wondered why I am ticklish. Not why do I laugh when I am tickled, but rather what makes certain parts ticklish, and other parts not, for example, I laugh my ass off when someone touches my sides, or my feet, but not when I get a handshake, or a hug (unless it's a tickle-hug, I love those!) Why is this?
Here's my theory: Our hands are the most valuable asset to us, in that the nerves are so close to the skin, and we use those nerves to interract with the world around us. Through touching, we can determine what we are holding, how many items we have, or in some cases, based on warmth and moisture and other tactile factors, we can even determine a specific person we are touching without using sight or smell, providing that we have touched that person before and can recognize them. Our feet have the nerves close to the skin as well, as we once used our feet as hands, albeit millions of years ago. We still use our feet to walk, and to determine surfaces on which we tread, so evolution has not taken those nerves away from us. This, I believe is why we are so ticklish on our feet. Our nerves, being so close to the skin, are stimulated by tickling, causing the brain to immediately react to the ticklish sensation! The amazing ticklishness of some people's feet lends itself to the fact that the nerves are being almost directly tickled.
But then, why aren't our palms ticklish? (In my case, my palms are somewhat ticklish, but not nearly as ticklish as my feet). My theory is that because our palms and hands are so often stimulated by other people, they have become desensitized to tickling to an extent. If someone came up to me and shook my foot as though it were my hand, I'd probably have a laughing fit and beg for the pleasantries to stop! I think that this also hold true for the belly and sides and knees, also very ticklish targets. These body parts are not ones that people touch on each other except in intimate circumstances. Tickling is very intimate, by the way. Here we must draw the thick line between intimacy and sexuality. I am not talking about sex, I am talking about tickling.
If my theory is true, then we can come to the conclusion that if we encountered a person who's hands had been touched as infrequently as my feet, then his or her palms would be as ticklish as my feet. Conversely, if we encountered a person who's feet had been handled, stimulated and tickled regularly for years from birth, he or she would not have ticklish feet.
Any thoughts? Anything to add, or any circumstances to use to contest my theory?
(Ah, the scientific method... I love it. any females want to test my theory and tickle my feet for years, you are welcome to it!)
I often wondered why I am ticklish. Not why do I laugh when I am tickled, but rather what makes certain parts ticklish, and other parts not, for example, I laugh my ass off when someone touches my sides, or my feet, but not when I get a handshake, or a hug (unless it's a tickle-hug, I love those!) Why is this?
Here's my theory: Our hands are the most valuable asset to us, in that the nerves are so close to the skin, and we use those nerves to interract with the world around us. Through touching, we can determine what we are holding, how many items we have, or in some cases, based on warmth and moisture and other tactile factors, we can even determine a specific person we are touching without using sight or smell, providing that we have touched that person before and can recognize them. Our feet have the nerves close to the skin as well, as we once used our feet as hands, albeit millions of years ago. We still use our feet to walk, and to determine surfaces on which we tread, so evolution has not taken those nerves away from us. This, I believe is why we are so ticklish on our feet. Our nerves, being so close to the skin, are stimulated by tickling, causing the brain to immediately react to the ticklish sensation! The amazing ticklishness of some people's feet lends itself to the fact that the nerves are being almost directly tickled.
But then, why aren't our palms ticklish? (In my case, my palms are somewhat ticklish, but not nearly as ticklish as my feet). My theory is that because our palms and hands are so often stimulated by other people, they have become desensitized to tickling to an extent. If someone came up to me and shook my foot as though it were my hand, I'd probably have a laughing fit and beg for the pleasantries to stop! I think that this also hold true for the belly and sides and knees, also very ticklish targets. These body parts are not ones that people touch on each other except in intimate circumstances. Tickling is very intimate, by the way. Here we must draw the thick line between intimacy and sexuality. I am not talking about sex, I am talking about tickling.
If my theory is true, then we can come to the conclusion that if we encountered a person who's hands had been touched as infrequently as my feet, then his or her palms would be as ticklish as my feet. Conversely, if we encountered a person who's feet had been handled, stimulated and tickled regularly for years from birth, he or she would not have ticklish feet.
Any thoughts? Anything to add, or any circumstances to use to contest my theory?
(Ah, the scientific method... I love it. any females want to test my theory and tickle my feet for years, you are welcome to it!)
