Ticklishness is more variable than constant for most people

[D-Tickler]

Though I don't have much experience of real tickling, I've concretely perceived that ticklishness is more variable than constant for most people.

A typical source of my perception is my observation on my peers in school & university.
Specifically, I observed most of those peers getting tickled mostly on their waists in my childhood & teenagerhood. Most of them did have obvious ticklish reactions in some (perhaps most of) time, but on the other hand, reacted obviously less ticklish or even virtually non-ticklish in some other time.

The second source concerns the 'self report' that I saw online.
I've seen a number of people posting that the ticklish levels of themselves or their partners are dependent on the day (typically on their feet).

The third source concerns my observation on some women's reactions throughout different videos.
A typical example is Diana Naborskaia. She had somewhat different-levelled ticklish reactions of being massaged/tickled on her left foot by the same type of massager gun in different videos (situations):
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=3moS7q_X6xU
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=kS17rf4cHrw
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=bPj15dPoHpE
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=LenjM19IJZw
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=oW8IqfcSGaU
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=hegfs-I34dk
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=L2rFq1BtKkQ
(I ever saw at least 2 more videos of Diana being massaged/tickled by this type of massager gun, but can't find them. Perhaps you can help me to find them?)

In addition, a kinda relevant point is that many people can get used to some indirect tickling ways, typically including foot licking and pedicure, through keeping doing them for times.
Quite a few women have seemed to share that they felt rather tickled when they got foot licking or pedicure for the first & second time, but have been getting gradually less tickled through doing them for times.

In a word, from my perspective, ticklishness seems to be more psychological than physical.
Ticklish reactions can be influenced by many factors, such as attention, emotion, anticipation, physical hormone level, surrounding atmosphere, etc.

What do you guys think?
I welcome the more experienced people here to share your relevant experiences!🙂

 

[WickedTouch]

Though I don't have much experience of real tickling, I've concretely perceived that ticklishness is more variable than constant for most people.

A typical source of my perception is my observation on my peers in school & university.
Specifically, I observed most of those peers getting tickled mostly on their waists in my childhood & teenagerhood. Most of them did have obvious ticklish reactions in some (perhaps most of) time, but on the other hand, reacted obviously less ticklish or even virtually non-ticklish in some other time.

The second source concerns the 'self report' that I saw online.
I've seen a number of people posted that the ticklish levels of themselves or their partners are dependent on the day (typically on their feet).

The third source concerns my observation on some women's reactions throughout different videos.
A typical example is Diana Naborskaia. She had somewhat different ticklish reactions by being massaged/tickled by the same type of massager gun in different videos (situations):
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=3moS7q_X6xU
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=kS17rf4cHrw
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=bPj15dPoHpE
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=LenjM19IJZw
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=oW8IqfcSGaU
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=hegfs-I34dk
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=L2rFq1BtKkQ
(I ever saw at least 2 more videos of Diana being massaged/tickled by this type of massager gun, but can't find them. Perhaps you can help me to find them?)

In addition, a kinda relevant point is that many people can get used to some indirect tickling ways, typically including foot licking and pedicure, through keeping doing them for times.
Quite a few women have seemed to share that they felt rather tickled when they got foot licking or pedicure for the first & second time, but get gradually less tickled through doing them for times.

In a word, from my perspective, ticklishness seems to be more psychological than physical.
Ticklish reactions can be influenced by many factors, such as attention, emotion, anticipation, physical hormone level, surrounding atmosphere, etc.

What do you guys think?
I welcome the more experienced people here to share your relevant experiences!🙂

You are very right. I was just talking with someone about this recently and have been saying this for years. In the early days of online tickling communities, there was a lot of assumptions around ticklishness mostly having to do with the number of nerve endings in an area (which is certainly a factor), but it is so much more multivariate than that. Carrying those assumptions that a person's ticklishness is just baked into their nerves in a very concrete way can lead to unreasonable expectations during play. I think more people today are aware, at one level or another, of the dynamic nature of ticklishness. As you pointed out, there's all kinds of psychological and emotional factors that can affect how a person responds to tickling. Even for the physical side of things, the body's biochemical state is not consistent throughout the day, week, month, or year.. Nutrition, hormonal states, sleep patterns, activity level, and all kinds of things can affect someones' physical, mental, and emotional sensitivities. Today, I think the majority of people I come across that carry the assumption that people's ticklishness stays consistent are those that have little or no experience and are more looking for their fantasies to manifest than they are trying to connect with and understand the lee (though I have come across a few new lees that make that assumption about themselves as well). Anyway, good on you for not making those kinds of assumptions and having more realistic expectations.

 

[natscott6282]

Though I don't have much experience of real tickling, I've concretely perceived that ticklishness is more variable than constant for most people.

A typical source of my perception is my observation on my peers in school & university.
Specifically, I observed most of those peers getting tickled mostly on their waists in my childhood & teenagerhood. Most of them did have obvious ticklish reactions in some (perhaps most of) time, but on the other hand, reacted obviously less ticklish or even virtually non-ticklish in some other time.

wish u had the opportunity to observe proper ticklings and not just quick and unskilled ones

 

[aberdeen]

Although there may be some variances between hormone levels during the day and also in moods,
tickling and inducing a state of ticklishness is a combination of both physical and psychological skills.

It is fairly easy to induce a reaction by a quick and even an arguably less skilled technique...I've seen people poked or jabbed playfully and the tickler didn't really try very much to obtain anything but a quick jump or reaction, mostly one of surprise and some laughter.

But I think on this board, most ticklers (especially the ones who lean more toward INTENSE tickling and INTENSE responses) are looking to gain a longer and deeper reaction to their tickling motions! The type of responses more intense ticklers enjoy are the progression from essentially zero ticklishness all the way to some maximal levels of ticklishness...We love the interaction and seeing the chosen subject go through a progression of responses ! The responses may start out with the Lee not knowing or realizing how ticklish they really are (bec they haven't been tickled properly or thoroughly) but they hopefully end with a Lee who, through the skills of the tickLER, WILL come to realize how ticklish they really are and how little self control they have on their own responses to a proper tickling!

A proper tickling usually needs to utilize some kind of verbal teasing involving their imminent tickling experience (the mental tactics can add a lot to their state of ticklishness before you even start the physical motions...And same with some form of restraint or overt bondage..being restrained in any way (by physical pinning them or holding them down ) increases the person's feeling of helplessness and ticklishness---It all happens when they realize they can't escape the tickling that is either ABOUT to start or has already started!
After that, a continual and relentless focus on the person's anatomy and ticklish spots/responses is needed to really draw the person's sensitivity out and maintain an increasingly higher level of responses/ticklishness. Proper tickling will more than likely induce a genuinely high and effective set of responses because the mental and physical stimulations will increase adrenaline and other brain chemicals that lead to higher and higher ticklishness...Then in the aftermath, the person tickled will encounter a rise in their endorphin and serotonin and dopamine to act as 'moderators' in the post tickling phase...that feeling of relief when the tickling overload is finished ! But the brain and body chemicals that enhance the tickling do so because of the act of tickling itself..not bec we are sitting around with high levels of adrenaline to begin with...
Just my thoughts...

 

[Soles_Scream]

wish u had the opportunity to observe proper ticklings and not just quick and unskilled ones

Even with proper technique, ticklishness can still vary depending on a variety of factors outside of the tickler's control.

 

[U.N.Owen]

You can see it clearly in models who do multiple shoots. To cite one of my personal favorites - Amanda from Tickle Town, who did 4 sessions over 3 years - she was wildly ticklish on her upper body in her first two sessions, but only moderately ticklish on her feet... even though she thought of her feet as very ticklish. Then in her third and fourth sessions, she was crazy ticklish on her feet, much to the surprise of the producer.

 

[natscott6282]

Even with proper technique, ticklishness can still vary depending on a variety of factors outside of the tickler's control.

of course but in my experience the biggest variable is how the person is tickled

 

[aberdeen]

You can see it clearly in models who do multiple shoots. To cite one of my personal favorites - Amanda from Tickle Town, who did 4 sessions over 3 years - she was wildly ticklish on her upper body in her first two sessions, but only moderately ticklish on her feet... even though she thought of her feet as very ticklish. Then in her third and fourth sessions, she was crazy ticklish on her feet, much to the surprise of the producer.

So my question is ... on the third and fourth sessions (when her feet became surprisingly much more ticklish) what were the responses of the upper body compared to the previous sessions one and two?
IE did the feet sensitivity 'catch up' bec of the extreme tickling performed on her upperbody (such that on session three and four, the body was sort of 'primed' and her ticklishness of her feet was increased bec of the previous 'conditioning'....we all know LEE's that start laughing/responding BEFORE they are every touched....the 'evil wiggling fingers' 😂😈. held near a hot spot ....they sometimes will laugh without any physical stimulus..
Dont know if its related , the same type of conditioning happens on occasion when you surprise a Lee and say take hold of an ankle...they KNOW their foot is a target and begin extreme blubbering to escape the POTENTIAL torture that they expect...BECAUSE they really mentally already feel it...
and a number of Lees I hve RPed with mention how they actually feel the tickling as I describe it...and yes I know some may simply say things just to keep the session going and keep my interest up in continuing...but afterwards...or sometimes in non tickling conversations I will ask those questions (Did you really feel the sensations as I spoke?--Some are very adamant that they 'feel' the tickling and even to them it is surprising ...). I think it's more of a slant to their brain /body chemistry COUPLED with the simple words that can do that but not unbelievable .... Maybe bec since they are usually 100% Lees..some very masochistic Lees...their chemistry might just actually be different (ie some CRAVE tickle torture )....any way...I think we can get somewhat conditioned to be ticklish bec of our own unique internal chemical makeup...

There are a lot of variables to ticklishness but also a lot variables in the skills or process utilized as well....and some ppl require more skilled tickling to be effectively and properly tickled....

 

[D-Tickler]

wish u had the opportunity to observe proper ticklings and not just quick and unskilled ones

I also hope so and even hope for really practising proper ticklings.
However, it doesn't seem to be easy...Especially for quite a few ticklers shown on some video channels also seem to be bad at properly tickling🙁

 

[D-Tickler]

You can see it clearly in models who do multiple shoots. To cite one of my personal favorites - Amanda from Tickle Town, who did 4 sessions over 3 years - she was wildly ticklish on her upper body in her first two sessions, but only moderately ticklish on her feet... even though she thought of her feet as very ticklish. Then in her third and fourth sessions, she was crazy ticklish on her feet, much to the surprise of the producer.

I might have not watched any shoots of Amanda from Tickle Town.
But I've noticed a shoot of Veronique from French Tickling.
It says that Veronique's soles have become more ticklish throughout 15 years for unknow reasons: https://genuinetickling.com/produit/veroniques-bare-soles-have-never-been-so-ticklish/

 

[U.N.Owen]

So my question is ... on the third and fourth sessions (when her feet became surprisingly much more ticklish) what were the responses of the upper body compared to the previous sessions one and two?
IE did the feet sensitivity 'catch up' bec of the extreme tickling performed on her upperbody (such that on session three and four, the body was sort of 'primed' and her ticklishness of her feet was increased bec of the previous 'conditioning'....we all know LEE's that start laughing/responding BEFORE they are every touched....the 'evil wiggling fingers' 😂😈. held near a hot spot ....they sometimes will laugh without any physical stimulus..
Dont know if its related , the same type of conditioning happens on occasion when you surprise a Lee and say take hold of an ankle...they KNOW their foot is a target and begin extreme blubbering to escape the POTENTIAL torture that they expect...BECAUSE they really mentally already feel it...
and a number of Lees I hve RPed with mention how they actually feel the tickling as I describe it...and yes I know some may simply say things just to keep the session going and keep my interest up in continuing...but afterwards...or sometimes in non tickling conversations I will ask those questions (Did you really feel the sensations as I spoke?--Some are very adamant that they 'feel' the tickling and even to them it is surprising ...). I think it's more of a slant to their brain /body chemistry COUPLED with the simple words that can do that but not unbelievable .... Maybe bec since they are usually 100% Lees..some very masochistic Lees...their chemistry might just actually be different (ie some CRAVE tickle torture )....any way...I think we can get somewhat conditioned to be ticklish bec of our own unique internal chemical makeup...

There are a lot of variables to ticklishness but also a lot variables in the skills or process utilized as well....and some ppl require more skilled tickling to be effectively and properly tickled....

In Amanda's particular case, she was tickled on her feet first in the later sessions, and the 'ler was surprised (the first time, in her 3rd session) by the reaction. But that's exactly the sort of thing that will be completely different with different people - or even with the same person at a different time.

 

[U.N.Owen]

I might have not watched any shoots of Amanda from Tickle Town.
But I've noticed a shoot of Veronique from French Tickling. It says that Veronique had become more ticklish than before for unknow reason

I highly recommend Amanda's sessions, one of my favorite all-time models. She was literally recruited off the street because she happened to walk by while they were talking about finding a new model, and she got hooked. She's also just one of the cutest girl next door types. In one of the behind the scenes clips from her third session, she said - only half joking - that she wished she could get a full time job being tickled.

 

[D-Tickler]

I highly recommend Amanda's sessions, one of my favorite all-time models. She was literally recruited off the street because she happened to walk by while they were talking about finding a new model, and she got hooked. She's also just one of the cutest girl next door types. In one of the behind the scenes clips from her third session, she said - only half joking - that she wished she could get a full time job being tickled.

Could you share some links of her videos?

 

[U.N.Owen]

Could you share some links of her videos?

They're available at agency-publishing.com, either with a subscription for streaming (which gives unlimited access to the entire catalogue), or to purchase just her clips as a package. (The behind-the-scenes setup and interview clips are only available streaming, though the video of Amanda being recruited off the street is included in the purchase package as Amanda 03.)

 

[D-Tickler]

Now I have a new question for you very experienced ticklers @WickedTouch @natscott6282 @aberdeen :
Have you ever used your advance techniques and tactics to make some people who're not very ticklish (especially those who thought that they're not ticklish at all) react in the considerably ticklish ways?
Such experience is just like cracking a tough nut 😉
(Other experienced ticklers may also answer this question)

 

[natscott6282]

Now I have a new question for you very experienced ticklers @WickedTouch @natscott6282 @aberdeen :
Have you ever used your advance techniques and tactics to make some people who're not very ticklish (especially those who thought that they're not ticklish at all) react in the considerably ticklish ways?
Such experience is just like cracking a tough nut 😉
(Other experienced ticklers may also answer this question)

tbh I dno cause everyone we did it do always got tickled to absolute bits

 

[WickedTouch]

Now I have a new question for you very experienced ticklers @WickedTouch @natscott6282 @aberdeen :
Have you ever used your advance techniques and tactics to make some people who're not very ticklish (especially those who thought that they're not ticklish at all) react in the considerably ticklish ways?
Such experience is just like cracking a tough nut 😉
(Other experienced ticklers may also answer this question)

Just to be clear, ,I don't necessarily think of myself as very experienced, but I do have some experience for sure. To answer your question, yes I have, but there is no silver bullet. I have tickled people that legitimately thought they weren't very ticklish, only for both of us to be surprised by how much I tickled them. Conversely, I have tried tickling people who claim to be very ticklish and no matter what I did, they barely reacted. The psychological, emotional, and situational aspects are much more important for some lees than a lot of people give them credit. There is a lee that I get substantially less reactions out of than my wife, who can almost look at them and make them laugh. As best we can tell, that has much more to do with a psychological gender dynamics than anything. I'm honestly the same way, so I get it. I'm so much more ticklish to female touch than male touch due to the way I emotionally and psychologically process it. There's definitely still something to be said about technique, though, as @natscott6282 was saying. Even my wife, who is very ticklish most of the time, can have days where she's not very reactive to normal tickling, but with a lot of practice and using certain techniques, I've been able to improvise in those rare times and get her going crazy.

 

[D-Tickler]

Just to be clear, ,I don't necessarily think of myself as very experienced, but I do have some experience for sure. To answer your question, yes I have, but there is no silver bullet. I have tickled people that legitimately thought they weren't very ticklish, only for both of us to be surprised by how much I tickled them. Conversely, I have tried tickling people who claim to be very ticklish and no matter what I did, they barely reacted. The psychological, emotional, and situational aspects are much more important for some lees than a lot of people give them credit. There is a lee that I get substantially less reactions out of than my wife, who can almost look at them and make them laugh. As best we can tell, that has much more to do with a psychological gender dynamics than anything. I'm honestly the same way, so I get it. I'm so much more ticklish to female touch than male touch due to the way I emotionally and psychologically process it. There's definitely still something to be said about technique, though, as @natscott6282 was saying. Even my wife, who is very ticklish most of the time, can have days where she's not very reactive to normal tickling, but with a lot of practice and using certain techniques, I've been able to improvise in those rare times and get her going crazy.

Thank you for your excellent reply! It shows that both you & your wife seem to be (not necessarily very but definitely quite) experienced tickler!
And I found that you just replied after you'd read this post of mine:

My situation is somewhat similar to you, but probably to the more extreme extent.

As far as I can recall, in my early teenagerhood, I might just usually react in a no ticklish way when I was tickled by guys but react in a more ticklish way if I was tickled by girls.
This was the time that I started to get my primitive capability of resisting being tickled.

However, since my late teenagerhood, I've determined to become a sheer ler in the general sense, and accordingly become less enjoyable of being tickled by anyone (on the other hand, my capability of resisting being tickled have even enhanced from then on).
From then on, I've become fully repulsed by being tickled by any males. I'm not repulsed by being tickled the attractive females, but don't highly enjoy that either.
(In general, I don't enjoy being closely touched by many ppl, especially males, due to my autism)

Such a change throughout my growth might have it relation to the harsh change of my psychological state. For I'd become rather depressed since my late teenagerhood.
I may have somewhat released from the depression by now, but still in the process of releasing.

And a fact I'm quite sure is: I haven't experienced the outburst of laughing (or even giggling) caused by tickling for 20 years at least, even though I've noticed that I can still get the tickling sensation in a few parts of my body (where're the regular ticklish spots for most ppl).
This makes me wonder if I've forgotten the laughter caused by tickling...

So, based on the information above, I may assume that 1 or even 0 out of the 10 ticklers would make me laugh if they tickle me in the blindfolded way (just leave the 'possible' room for 1 of them)
On the other hand, based on my psychological condition, I'll be unlikely to let such a scene to happen on me in reality (this may be a bit similar to @SirTristran )

We're both the kind of ppl who can be much more emotional to female ticking than male tickling🙂
In addition, your experiences really reveal how the (psychological, emotional, and situational) factors other than tickling techniques and tactics can have effects on the lees' ticklish reactions! For some lees, the effects from those factors may even outweigh the effects from the lers' tickling techniques and tactics!

 

[dahoochman]

Speaking from personal experience only, I can tell you that my wife’s ticklishness varies. When she is “happy” or in the mood she can be crazy ticklish. But if for example she is in a bad mood or just not in the mood to be tickled then she reacts differently.

 

[D-Tickler]

Just to be clear, ,I don't necessarily think of myself as very experienced, but I do have some experience for sure. To answer your question, yes I have, but there is no silver bullet. I have tickled people that legitimately thought they weren't very ticklish, only for both of us to be surprised by how much I tickled them. Conversely, I have tried tickling people who claim to be very ticklish and no matter what I did, they barely reacted. The psychological, emotional, and situational aspects are much more important for some lees than a lot of people give them credit. There is a lee that I get substantially less reactions out of than my wife, who can almost look at them and make them laugh. As best we can tell, that has much more to do with a psychological gender dynamics than anything. I'm honestly the same way, so I get it. I'm so much more ticklish to female touch than male touch due to the way I emotionally and psychologically process it. There's definitely still something to be said about technique, though, as @natscott6282 was saying. Even my wife, who is very ticklish most of the time, can have days where she's not very reactive to normal tickling, but with a lot of practice and using certain techniques, I've been able to improvise in those rare times and get her going crazy.

Today I suddenly want to add more reply to this post of you.

I just recalled the (non)ticklish condition of a middle school classmate:
He's a guy who definitely clamed self to be not ticklish in virtually all the situations.
For he can have no reaction to the tickling from most of the classmates in most situations (for waist/side tickling at least; ppl in my middle school almost only did waist/side tickling back then)
However, I did witness that he reacted as ticklish when he was tickled by a certain classmate on his waist for more than once (for this, he claimed to me that he's only ticklish by that classmate); And strictly speaking, he seemed to react genuinely ticklish once when he was tickled by another classmate on his waist.
(He might be a bit similar to the lee who reacted substantially less to your tickling than to your wife's tickling)

And when I was on a local tickling forum (that I visited around 15 years ago), I and some other male ticklephiles were arguing a topic about whether absolutely non-ticklish girls exist.
In the argument, a male ticklephile showed an example: A girl (that he knew) claimed self to be absolutely non-ticklish. She ever had little reaction when she was tickled by 2 ppl together. However, once she was tickled by 3 ppl together (on 3 different spots), she eventually cannot handle that and burst out laughing.

The 2 examples above both concern the reveal of the occasional ticklish reactions of 'non-ticklish' ppl.
They don't really involve deep research of digging out the variable of ticklishness of those ppl based on the change of various elements. Instead, they're more as relatively simple daily experiments.
I think that there should be even more discovery if those 2 ppl are really researched on their ticklishness in the deeper ways.

So, I have a firm statement: Except those who are born without tickle nerve & who have completely lost their (formerly existed) tickle nerves for reasons (e.g., neurodegeneration or accident), all the ppl are ticklish at least on some spots to some extent in some situation(s).
For this, I'm almost never willing to acknowledge that someone is not ticklish at all, but prefer using the scale 1-10 to define the extents of one's ticklishness (even though such a scale tends to be used in rather subjective ways, which makes someone's 10 being similar to another person's 5).

What do you think of my statement?

 

[WickedTouch]

The 2 examples above both concern the reveal of the occasional ticklish reactions of 'non-ticklish' ppl.
They don't really involve deep research of digging out the variable of ticklishness of those ppl based on the change of various elements. Instead, they're more as relatively simple daily experiments.
I think that there should be even more discovery if those 2 ppl are really researched on their ticklishness in the deeper ways.

As far as these comments go, I agree with you. The experiences you described, as well as my own, are anecdotal.

So, I have a firm statement: Except those who are born without tickle nerve & who have completely lost their (formerly existed) tickle nerves for reasons (e.g., neurodegeneration or accident), all the ppl are ticklish at least on some spots to some extent in some situation(s).
For this, I'm almost never willing to acknowledge that someone is not ticklish at all, but prefer using the scale 1-10 to define the extents of one's ticklishness (even though such a scale tends to be used in rather subjective ways, which makes someone's 10 being similar to another person's 5).

What do you think of my statement?

I think that your view on it probably best applies to a non-specific majority of people, but that there are likely a non-specific minority that do not experience ticklishness at all. But the way your thought experiment is posed, it’s an impossible question to answer due to its allowance for an infinite number (or at least untestable number) of variables that could possibly trigger a ticklish reaction. I can say, again anecdotally, I've seen examples of people that seem in every way to be not ticklish, though admittedly rarely. But under your absolute position, there could always be one person or one situation that makes that person ticklish. While that’s a possibility, for sure, it would be just as much of a fallacy to assume all people are ticklish at some level, as it would to assume completely non-ticklish people exist. Without highly refined ways of testing someone’s ticklishness in a reliable and absolute way (not to mention testing everyone alive), there is no way to be sure.

That leaves us with the realm of personal experiences, probability, what we know of the science of ticklishness, and belief. We know that there are parts of the brain that are responsible for processing the signals that trigger the ticklish response, and that emotional processing, sensory processing, and such seem to be involved in that. We also know that the parts of the brain responsible for that processing has variability from person to person. I’d suggest that some brain configurations (and some brains can be very different!) might not facilitate what we recognize as ticklishness. I don’t know that for sure, nor do I know that there is not some special way to tickle people I’ve known to be not ticklish in my personal life. All I can do from there is form a reasonable belief from the probabilities I’ve observed from those people. My strong belief is that some people are not ticklish at all.

 

[D-Tickler]

As far as these comments go, I agree with you. The experiences you described, as well as my own, are anecdotal.


I think that your view on it probably best applies to a non-specific majority of people, but that there are likely a non-specific minority that do not experience ticklishness at all. But the way your thought experiment is posed, it’s an impossible question to answer due to its allowance for an infinite number (or at least untestable number) of variables that could possibly trigger a ticklish reaction. I can say, again anecdotally, I've seen examples of people that seem in every way to be not ticklish, though admittedly rarely. But under your absolute position, there could always be one person or one situation that makes that person ticklish. While that’s a possibility, for sure, it would be just as much of a fallacy to assume all people are ticklish at some level, as it would to assume completely non-ticklish people exist. Without highly refined ways of testing someone’s ticklishness in a reliable and absolute way (not to mention testing everyone alive), there is no way to be sure.

That leaves us with the realm of personal experiences, probability, what we know of the science of ticklishness, and belief. We know that there are parts of the brain that are responsible for processing the signals that trigger the ticklish response, and that emotional processing, sensory processing, and such seem to be involved in that. We also know that the parts of the brain responsible for that processing has variability from person to person. I’d suggest that some brain configurations (and some brains can be very different!) might not facilitate what we recognize as ticklishness. I don’t know that for sure, nor do I know that there is not some special way to tickle people I’ve known to be not ticklish in my personal life. All I can do from there is form a reasonable belief from the probabilities I’ve observed from those people. My strong belief is that some people are not ticklish at all.

First of all, thank you for your marvelous reply!

And I have the following 2 points for the corresponding reaction:

1. In fact, I do include the ppl who are completely non-ticklish in my statement (so I may have a bit complaint on your carelessness of reading my statement).
I just categorise such ppl into the exceptional group, namely, those who are born without tickle nerve & who have completely lost their (formerly existed) tickle nerves for reasons.
This exceptional group (in my statement) may just almost equals to "a non-specific minority that do not experience ticklishness at all" in your post.
I've also seen an example that certainly fits the type 'who are born without tickle nerve'. It was from a Korean TV show (I first saw on the local tickling forum that I formerly visited). On this show, a 9-year-old Korean girl said that she'd never experienced feeling of ticklishness, and let the ppl try to tickle her on the stage (she had no reaction to all those ticklings). And I'm almost certain that this girl's unlikely to experience ticklishness in the rest of her life, and some other ppl (of far minority) are in the same case as her.
Moreover, there should be more examples concerning ppl who completely lost their formerly existed tickle nerves at some ages or time for accident, which has made them cannot experience ticklishness anymore.

2. You've just brought up the point that certain parts of the brain that are responsible for processing the signals that trigger the ticklish response, which involve the cooperative functions of emotion, sensation, and so on. The function of those parts of brain seem to be rather complex, which may be even hard for scientific research to dig in.
Moreover, this has inspired me to think about 1 more possibility that makes some ppl hardly experience ticklishness. That is, the works of those parts of brain in those ppl's head operate & process in the kinda abnormal or even dysfunctional ways. It furthermore lead those ppl to have no chance to experience ticklishness at all.
For this, I may complement such ppl into the exceptional group (in my statement) as well!

All in all, I eventually don't find any disagreement between my statement and the content of your post. Instead, your post seems to offer some potentially complementary information for my statement!

 

[WickedTouch]

First of all, thank you for your marvelous reply!

And I have the following 2 points for the corresponding reaction:

1. In fact, I do include the ppl who are completely non-ticklish in my statement (so I may have a bit complaint on your carelessness of reading my statement).
I just categorise such ppl into the exceptional group, namely, those who are born without tickle nerve & who have completely lost their (formerly existed) tickle nerves for reasons.
This exceptional group (in my statement) may just almost equals to "a non-specific minority that do not experience ticklishness at all" in your post.
I've also seen an example that certainly fits the type 'who are born without tickle nerve'. It was from a Korean TV show (I first saw on the local tickling forum that I formerly visited). On this show, a 9-year-old Korean girl said that she'd never experienced feeling of ticklishness, and let the ppl try to tickle her on the stage (she had no reaction to all those ticklings). And I'm almost certain that this girl's unlikely to experience ticklishness in the rest of her life, and some other ppl (of far minority) are in the same case as her.
Moreover, there should be more examples concerning ppl who completely lost their formerly existed tickle nerves at some ages or time for accident, which has made them cannot experience ticklishness anymore.

2. You've just brought up the point that certain parts of the brain that are responsible for processing the signals that trigger the ticklish response, which involve the cooperative functions of emotion, sensation, and so on. The function of those parts of brain seem to be rather complex, which may be even hard for scientific research to dig in.
Moreover, this has inspired me to think about 1 more possibility that makes some ppl hardly experience ticklishness. That is, the works of those parts of brain in those ppl's head operate & process in the kinda abnormal or even dysfunctional ways. It furthermore lead those ppl to have no chance to experience ticklishness at all.
For this, I may complement such ppl into the exceptional group (in my statement) as well!

All in all, I eventually don't find any disagreement between my statement and the content of your post. Instead, your post seems to offer some potentially complementary information for my statement!

I can’t offer much more than I have except the following clarifications regarding my original stance and intent:

1) From my perspective, I was not careless in disregarding the group you labeled exceptional, but instead I respected the fact that you wished to consider them outliers to your statement about the range of normal human experience (one without medical complication, disease, or similar affliction). So my intention was in addressing your statement barring the exceptions you clearly allowed for. Sorry if that was not made clearer.

2) I largely agree with this with the caveat of #1 above, except I would say, abnormal, yes by definition; but dysfunctional, some yes and some no. Not every divergence from normal biology, anatomy, or psychosocial behavior is dysfunctional or medically significant.

Essentially, from what i understand, our two perspectives are extremely similar with a small but important (to each of us) difference. So, as I said, it comes down to personal experience and belief. I think we both believe there to be a range of ticklish experience (say 0-10), but your zero only includes damage, dysfunction, and similar medically significant abnormalities, where as mine includes people who are benignly not ticklish. If I have misunderstood you, I apologize. Otherwise, it just goes to show how people have a range of experiences that inform their beliefs over time.

I hope that was helpful, or at the least, clear.

 

[D-Tickler]

I can’t offer much more than I have except the following clarifications regarding my original stance and intent:

1) From my perspective, I was not careless in disregarding the group you labeled exceptional, but instead I respected the fact that you wished to consider them outliers to your statement about the range of normal human experience (one without medical complication, disease, or similar affliction). So my intention was in addressing your statement barring the exceptions you clearly allowed for. Sorry if that was not made clearer.

2) I largely agree with this with the caveat of #1 above, except I would say, abnormal, yes by definition; but dysfunctional, some yes and some no. Not every divergence from normal biology, anatomy, or psychosocial behavior is dysfunctional or medically significant.

Essentially, from what i understand, our two perspectives are extremely similar with a small but important (to each of us) difference. So, as I said, it comes down to personal experience and belief. I think we both believe there to be a range of ticklish experience (say 0-10), but your zero only includes damage, dysfunction, and similar medically significant abnormalities, where as mine includes people who are benignly not ticklish. If I have misunderstood you, I apologize. Otherwise, it just goes to show how people have a range of experiences that inform their beliefs over time.

I hope that was helpful, or at the least, clear.

After reading this post of you, I realise a possibility:
I might not have clearly expressed everything of my original stance in my posts of #20 & #22, especially since I'm not a native English speaker (I should appologise if that's the case).

Because of my limited English level, I can often find several unfamiliar words and/or terms in the posts of you & others. And I may sometimes even have a bit difficulty to fully understand the genuine meanings of some words or terms even under the help of my online dictionary.
For example, the term 'benignly not ticklish' had been rather unfamiliar for me. And I need to carefully figure out & sense the genuine meaning of this term (and hopefully, I've successfully gotten it).

Then, the first thing I want to say is: Based on my understanding of the type 'benignly not ticklish', I may categorise the exampled little Korean girl (that I mentioned in #22) into this type. For me, she has the trait of being born without tickle nerve. And this trait should have been formed in a simply natural way, which has definitely no concern with medical complication, disease, dysfunction, etc. And the ppl who are in the same case as her are regarded as 'benignly not ticklish' by me as well.
Moreover, some ppl have completely lost their formerly existed tickle nerves through natural aging (most likely due to the natural neurodegeneration). For me, those ppl are also benignly not ticklish.

So, from my perspective, those ppl described above are with zero ticklishness, and are benignly not ticklish at all.
On the other hand, I categorise those ppl into the exceptional group (in my statement). Tbh, I even regard those 'benignly not ticklish' ppl as the potential mainstream of the exceptional group.

Probably, you don't really want to categorise those ppl above into the exceptional group as I do.
If it's the case, it would really concern the small but important difference between our perspectives.

Hopefully, I've expressed every point in a sufficiently clear way, which may help you to understand my real stance, and the similarities & difference (if it really exists) between our perspectives.

PS: I sometimes really wish that I was a native English speaker!

 

[ihatethisyo]

But under your absolute position, there could always be one person or one situation that makes that person ticklish. While that’s a possibility, for sure, it would be just as much of a fallacy to assume all people are ticklish at some level, as it would to assume completely non-ticklish people exist. Without highly refined ways of testing someone’s ticklishness in a reliable and absolute way (not to mention testing everyone alive), there is no way to be sure.

I agree with 99% of everything you said, BUT I think it’s actually a bigger fallacy to assume completely non-ticklish people exist than to assume all people have some levels of ticklishness.

Because on a pure theoretical level, there are infinite methods that can contribute to just one reaction of ticklishness and you only need 1 to be true to prove ticklishness. Whereas the converse is that if you want to prove complete non-ticklishness you need all infinite factors to be false, if that makes sense.