Why do people laugh when tickled.

[TTT for joy]

Apparently, scientists haven't been able to come up with a definite answer, but there have been several hypothesis I've heard about. Some of them seemed to me more plausible then others, but the one I found the most convincing is that tickling is a social activity meant to train people in protecting their vulnerable body parts.The unpleasant sensation kicks in to make the ticklee play the training game and try to protect himself, while the laughing is supposed to encourage the tickler in his playful assaults. For the ticklers out here, it apparently encourages a lot. 😀

I just thought it can be an interesting thought to share with you guys.

 

[SadCuzNotTcklsh]

It's questions like these I will spend my whole life trying to figure out…

 

[DontAskJusTckle]

In the brain there are centers of pain and centers of pleasure. Both can be pleasant when mildly stimulated. On the pain side, we enjoy the sting of carbonated beverages on our throats. We enjoy spicy hot chili that can burn the shit out of the roof of your mouth. It's when we over stimulate the pain centers that it becomes...painful.

The pleasure centers operate similarly. In mild degrees it feels pleasurable. Somebody gently scratching your back with long nails for example. It feels good as it stimulates those pleasure centers. But once those nails start exploring those outer boundaries toward the sides, the stimulation starts becoming too much to handle, and we experience the sensation of being tickled. We begin to lose control and involuntarily began laughing, because it's more pleasure than we can handle.

That's my theory, anyway.

 

[Snob_from_Rus]

It's questions like these I will spend my whole life trying to figure out…

A brick is more ticklish than me. A brick.

 

[TTT for joy]

In the brain there are centers of pain and centers of pleasure. Both can be pleasant when mildly stimulated. On the pain side, we enjoy the sting of carbonated beverages on our throats. We enjoy spicy hot chili that can burn the shit out of the roof of your mouth. It's when we over stimulate the pain centers that it becomes...painful.

The pleasure centers operate similarly. In mild degrees it feels pleasurable. Somebody gently scratching your back with long nails for example. It feels good as it stimulates those pleasure centers. But once those nails start exploring those outer boundaries toward the sides, the stimulation starts becoming too much to handle, and we experience the sensation of being tickled. We begin to lose control and involuntarily began laughing, because it's more pleasure than we can handle.

That's my theory, anyway.

This theory in my opinion fails as soon as you realize, that some people laugh before even getting tickled just by the anticipation of it, so it's not necessarily the reaction to the touch itself. Also your theory does not explain why most people can't tickle themselves. If it was possible to overstimulate by mere touch, one should be able to do it by himself. In my opinion it's just part of some sort of social game.

 

[DontAskJusTckle]

This theory in my opinion fails as soon as you realize, that some people laugh before even getting tickled just by the anticipation of it, so it's not necessarily the reaction to the touch itself.

Yes, some people laugh nervously in anticipation of the tickle. On some level their mind knows that laughter is necessary to process the sensation and so it doesn't wait. Kind of like starting your car and letting it run a while before actually driving somewhere.

Also your theory does not explain why most people can't tickle themselves.

It wasn't meant to. It was only meant to explain why people laugh when they ARE tickled. And many people CAN tickle themselves.

If it was possible to overstimulate by mere touch, one should be able to do it by himself.

To suggest that one's own touch ought to be as pleasurable as the touch of another is like saying that a wool shirt on bare skin ought to feel as good as silk or velvet. It's more than a matter of "mere touch." It's the type and quality of that touch that determines to what degree the pleasure centers are involved.

Again, just my theory, which by the way still holds up in spite of your objections.

In my opinion it's just part of some sort of social game.

I'm afraid that's too vague to even qualify as a theory.

 

[milagros317]

You can find a whole chapter devoted to ticklish laughter in this book by a psychologist who specializes in analyzing laughter:

http://www.amazon.com/Laughter-Scie.../ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=

I highly recommend the book. 😀

 

[Snob_from_Rus]

Well, when i was a boy, my skin was thin and sensitive and i couldn't stand being tickled without laughing. Now i'm a fat, hairy man with thick, rough skin and i'm not ticklish anymore. Ticklish people with thin skin can't handle their emotions and breathing while their skin being stimulated. So they have a built-in protection system which prevents dying from rise of blood pressure while being tickled. This protection system is laughter. It helps to normalize blood pressure and breathing for a short period of time. If tickling continues this system loses it's efficiency and becomes useless. A few years ago i read a horrible story that possibly occured in USSR in 80's. In soviet town Minsk lived a man whose wife decided to kill him. She used ropes to bound him to the bed and then tickled him till his heart stop beating. She thought that police would decide her housband died from heart attack. But soviet policemen somehow recognized the real circumstances of his death and the woman was sent to a jail. I also read another story which had happened in 19th century in Old Russia. Young man stayed with six or more women in a farmer's house of typical Russian village. Women were bored and decided to have fun tickling him. They stopped too late and he died due to the lack of oxygen.

 

[Eroticlaugh]

In the brain there are centers of pain and centers of pleasure. Both can be pleasant when mildly stimulated. On the pain side, we enjoy the sting of carbonated beverages on our throats. We enjoy spicy hot chili that can burn the shit out of the roof of your mouth. It's when we over stimulate the pain centers that it becomes...painful.

The pleasure centers operate similarly. In mild degrees it feels pleasurable. Somebody gently scratching your back with long nails for example. It feels good as it stimulates those pleasure centers. But once those nails start exploring those outer boundaries toward the sides, the stimulation starts becoming too much to handle, and we experience the sensation of being tickled. We begin to lose control and involuntarily began laughing, because it's more pleasure than we can handle.

That's my theory, anyway.

Nice but it doesn't give an answer to the question of the topic. It's about why we actually laugh.
Pleasure & pain theory is interesting but do you always laugh when you have pleasure? You just feel it and enjoy it. Laughter is more complex thing.

The hypothesis mentioned by TTT is surely the most plausible. Nothing to add to it except for the thing that another encouraging factor is that tickling has a positive effect in terms of health, helps release stress and emotions and so on, you know that, tickling as therapy.

 

[SadCuzNotTcklsh]

In order to please the tickler.

If only it were that simple. I would love to please any tickler, but since I am a brick, I can't.

 

[Morning Lorie]

After reading the different theories, DAJT's makes the most sense to me. Laughter is a natural expression of joy. When I tickle my boyfriend he laughs uncontrollably. It's like his body is falling behind on dealing with the tickle and desperately trying to catch up.

The idea of a social game doesn't make sense to me. Lots of antisocial people that have no interest in games are still ticklish and laugh when they are tickled.

 

[C.A.B.]

Fight or flight response to being attacked. You see the same in prey species when being caught... laugh, scream, jerk, complain, strike back , whatever... its the reaction that is hardwired... not the sound that comes out. You have noticed not everyone 'laughs' when tickled?

 

[helplessandhappy]

I've always felt like being tickled makes you scream/spaz out and that in itself is funny, which in turn makes you laugh. That's how it is for me anyway.

 

[TTT for joy]

Looks like there is many different opinions on the matter. Good: it makes the discussion all the more interesting. I'll try to reply to several of them.

Again, just my theory, which by the way still holds up in spite of your objections.

After the details you brought in, it might actually work. I don't really have other objections.

Well, when i was a boy, my skin was thin and sensitive and i couldn't stand being tickled without laughing. Now i'm a fat, hairy man with thick, rough skin and i'm not ticklish anymore. Ticklish people with thin skin can't handle their emotions and breathing while their skin being stimulated. So they have a built-in protection system which prevents dying from rise of blood pressure while being tickled. This protection system is laughter. It helps to normalize blood pressure and breathing for a short period of time.

I'm not saying it's impossible to die from being tickled, but it seem to me rather peculiar if this was a general phenomenon. Why would a human body pretty much destroy itself from a mere touch? As far as I know continuous stimulation results in loss of sensitivity.

Fight or flight response to being attacked. You see the same in prey species when being caught... laugh, scream, jerk, complain, strike back , whatever... its the reaction that is hardwired... not the sound that comes out. You have noticed not everyone 'laughs' when tickled?

I did notice and most reactions would seem very natural. The only reaction I would not expect as a fight response is laughter.

The idea of a social game doesn't make sense to me. Lots of antisocial people that have no interest in games are still ticklish and laugh when they are tickled.

Call it a hardwired instinct then. The question is why is there discrepancy between the expression of joy and the rather unpleasant sensation of being tickled. It might be some sort of overload as DAJT suggested, or one of the possible alternatives is the one I proposed:

The body of the ticklee signals by laughter to others to tickle him , while the sensation of ticklishness forces the ticklee defend himself. As I said, it could be some sort of "combat training" if you will if you don't like the term "game".

 

[C.A.B.]

I did notice and most reactions would seem very natural. The only reaction I would not expect as a fight response is laughter.

Why not? Laughter is no different than a squeak or a moan or a yelp or a growl as an autonomic utterance.

 

[tickletherapist]

The body of the ticklee signals by laughter to others to tickle him , while the sensation of ticklishness forces the ticklee defend himself. As I said, it could be some sort of "combat training" if you will if you don't like the term "game".

Such a funny joke on human body that some ticklees just lose strength when tickled and can't even try to defend, their defence is weak trembling and "dying" slowly from silent laughter 🙂 So humorous of nature 🙂

 

[SadCuzNotTcklsh]

Fight or flight response to being attacked. You see the same in prey species when being caught... laugh, scream, jerk, complain, strike back , whatever... its the reaction that is hardwired... not the sound that comes out. You have noticed not everyone 'laughs' when tickled?

I agree it's hardwired in the body/brain. I know thats the problem with me.