The Trouble With Tickling

My husband and I have very strange pillow talk. Last night we got in to a discussion about the biological response to tickling, and how it does not match up at all with the psychological reaction. If you are anything like us, you do not like to be tickled. In fact, and I will speak only for myself here, but tickling is one of my least favorite things in the world. I might even say that I would rather be strapped to a waterboard than tickled for any length of time. So, why then is the biological reaction to tickling laughter? Laughter is associated with happiness and joy, yet it is the unintended reaction to the torture of tickling that is impossible to avoid.

Let's look at other responses to physical stimulation. When we are in pain, like say when we are pinched, we grimace or yell, or even vocalize an "ouch." These can all be compared to the growls, whimpers, or snarls from other animals when they are faced with the same physical stimulation. It seems to be the correct reaction to the stimulus. When we are aroused or the like, we let out a pleasurable moan or happy sigh, akin to say a purr. Again, the correct response to the pleasurable stimulus. But tickling?

Who can really say they LIKE to be tickled. If you do, I would really like to share at least a conversation with you. As I mentioned earlier, it is the closest thing to legal torture that I ever care to experience. So, why then do I laugh in seeming pleasure? We submit our children and babies to this torture, thinking that since they are laughing they must be enjoying themselves. Are they? I sure as hell don't. So, as I pontificated the question.... I found this on wikipedia.

Some evidence suggests that laughing associated with tickling is a nervous reaction that can be triggered; indeed, very ticklish people often start laughing before actually being tickled.

Charles Darwin theorized on the link between tickling and social relations, arguing that tickling provokes laughter through the anticipation of pleasure.^[9] If a stranger tickles a child without any preliminaries, catching the child by surprise, the likely result will be not laughter but withdrawal and displeasure. Darwin also noticed that for tickling to be effective, you must not know the precise point of stimulation in advance, and reasoned that this is why you cannot effectively tickle yourself.

So, there you have it folks, the laughter associated with tickling is a NERVOUS reaction. So, the next time you submit your loved one to tickle torture, realize that the giggles and super cute grin you think you are receiving are more like the exposure of the intimidating jaws of a silverback gorilla, or the snarl of a Bengal tiger.