What is tickling?

[THE THREAD]

Being a ball of four dimensional plasma I am not aware of many of these sensations you humans feel. Perhaps you can explain it to me as I endeavor to understand more about your society. Any input you could provide to my internal array would be most appreciated. Thank you for your time.

 

[amk714]

It's hard to explain, THE THREAD, but I'll try...

Tickling is when a human touches another human in such a way as to make him/her laugh and/or squirm. The touches can be gentle or not-so-gentle. They can be strokes, pokes, rakes, massages, and what-have-you. Fingers, fingernails, feathers, brushes, and many other tools can be used to tickle. Body parts susceptible to tickling include the feet, toes, knees, thighs, ribs, stomach, sides, armpits, neck, breasts, nipples, ears, and even the genitals. Certain people can even orgasm from tickling, from what I've heard. Tickling can be torture, pleasure, or both, depending on the person's feelings. Well, thanks for listening, THE THREAD, and I hope I've helped you learn more about this phenomenon we humans call "tickling."

 

[THE THREAD]

Most interesting...assimilating data....is every human what you would call "ticklish" or is this some genetic phenomenon that can only be inherited?

 

[amk714]

Good question, THE THREAD. I don't think all humans are "ticklish," but from my observations, most of us are, including myself. As for inheritance, I'm not entirely sure about the genetic aspect of tickling. All I can say is if you're not ticklish when you're born, chances are you never will be, unless you get yourself hypnotized or something. I've also heard of some people losing their ticklishness as they get older, but such an occurence is not all that common. For the most part, ticklishness stays with you all your life. These are just my personal thoughts, I'm sure there are others who have different theories about tickling, but thanks for the question, THE THREAD.

 

[ShiningIce]

I cant believe what I'm seeing! Its spreading to other parts of the forum! The THREAD is truly magnificent. 😱 🙂

 

[SadAngelTicklee]

Being a behaviorist....
I tend to believe that being ticklish and having a love of being tickled is largely environmental....exposure to having been tickled...this theory also makes sense as compared to my own life story...as far as loving to tickle others...I am not so sure about that one...I just know that my experiences and conversations with others have revealed feedback and evidence to support the above - mentioned🙂 Is this opinion scientifically - based and documented? Hardly...merely my opinion🙂
~angel🙂

 

[Ultratickler]

Look it up in a dictionary.

 

[THE THREAD]

Dictionary provides insufficient information... amk714 data was much more informative. One could look up love in dictionary but still not find sufficient information to know what it is in any real terms. More data leads to a better understanding of the concept. I do not understand why you do not know this.

 

[amk714]

Taken from www.m-w.com (Webster's Dictionary website):

tickle: to touch (as a body part) lightly so as to excite the surface nerves and cause uneasiness, laughter, or spasmodic movements.

Interesting, but like THE THREAD said, insufficient. 😀

 

[THE THREAD]

Well stated amk714. I am very interested in the enviroment vs. genetic aspect of what you call tickling. What sort of enviromental factors influence this phenomenon?