Apparently, you can't tickle yourself

http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/questions/why-cant-i-tickle-myself
Why can't I tickle myself?
Pardon Chanie Kirschner if she bursts into laughter for no apparent reason.
She means no harm.
 By Chanie Kirschner <http://www.mnn.com/users/ckirschner>Fri, Jan 21 2011
at 10:37 AM EST  4 Comments
<http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/questions/why-cant-i-tickle-myself#comments>

 *Q: Why is it that I can tickle my kids, can tickle my husband, but I can’t
tickle myself? I thought about this after a tickle fight with my 5-year-old,
who bursts into uncontrollable giggles after I tickle her, but is
stone-faced when she tries to tickle herself. She often tries to make
herself laugh by tickling herself, but can’t. Why is this?*

*A:* Interesting question. I myself used to be so incredibly ticklish, I
would start laughing even before someone tickled me. Just the very thought
of being tickled would do it. But as I got older (and the fun got sucked out
of me, I guess), I grew less and less ticklish — and I’ve often wondered why
that is. Before I ponder the answer to my query, though, the polite thing to
do would be to answer yours, no?There are two types of
tickling<https://notes.utk.edu/bio/greenberg.nsf/0/867a7a085ae2507f85257402005fe968?OpenDocument>,
named in 1897 by the psychologist G. Stanley
Hall<http://www.reference.com/browse/G.+Stanley+Hall>.
There is knismesis (a light tickle that does not induce laughter) and
gargalesis (the heavy tickling that does induce laughter). You can reproduce
knismesis by yourself but not gargalesis ... but why?

First we need to understand why we laugh so much when other people tickle
us. You know those people who laugh uncontrollably in somber, serious
situations? Like in a job interview, or when they’re fighting with you, or
maybe at a funeral, for instance? I have firsthand experience with such
people because (ahem) I am one of them. No, seriously. I was once getting
yelled at in high school by the assistant principal and was so nervous that
I started laughing, so uncontrollably in fact, that I hid my head in hands
and pretended I was crying. The assistant principal immediately started
apologizing, which made me laugh even harder. It was a mess. Needless to
say, I get caught in many a sticky situation because of it — the kinds of
situations that are funny only *way* after they’re over.

So why is it that we laugh when we’re tickled? Simply put, because of the
unexpectedness of it. The
cerebellum<http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v1/n7/full/nn1198_635.html>,
the part of our brain that monitors our movements, can detect the difference
between expected sensations (scratching an itch, for instance) and
unexpected sensations (a bug landing on your ear). Because of this
difference, we can’t predict where someone will tickle us or how we will
feel when they do, so it makes us panic. That panic is manifested through
uncontrollable laughter — sort of a more acceptable “nervous laugh,” if you
will. Interestingly, this “panic
mode<http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/other-emotions/question511.htm>”
is thought to have been an evolutionary protection against predators.
(Though I’m not sure what laughing at the snake that has just brushed up
your leg is going to do.)

I therefore can’t tickle myself because if I do, it is *my* brain telling *my
*hand to make those bizarre tickling motions under my arm, and since we are
not surprising ourselves with the action, we do not laugh. In order to
induce a laugh, there must be an element of surprise involved.

And though tickling induces laughter, it may not be the best way to get a
good laugh. In fact, there are rumors of “relentless tickling” being used in
ancient times (and even today, amongst some quarreling siblings) as a means
of torture. That’s right, people — tickling as torture. In my opinion, if
you’re looking to get a good laugh, all you really need to do is spend a few
minutes cruising YouTube’s funniest videos (during your lunch break, of
course), particularly this one <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM>,
a classic that always brings me to giggles. After watching it, I’ll bet
you’ll be positively tickled.

— Chanie


Johne Cook
| http://raygunrevival.com | http://authorculture.blogspot.com |

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