[neilep (OP)]

I think the reason why it is difficult to trigger laughter when you try to tickle yourself is because tickling must have an emotional effect too. I recently enjoyed playing 'I am the Tickle Monster' with my kids, I tickle them, they tickle me......well....I tickle them more than me actually !!! (cos I'm the Tickle Monster []).....Ahem !!...err....anyway, we realised that we only laugh when being tickled , not really when tickling yourself...go on...try it !!..try and giggle when tickling the soles your feet,or from pressing under your arm pits...the senastion becomes just an irritant with very little humour at all...now...go up to your blokey or girly and start a tickling sesh.....see ?...Therefore :...........Laughing, while Tickling, happens predominantly in social situations.

Where are you the most ticklish ?....with my children it's particularly noticeable on the body sides and on the back of their legs between the knee and derrier []....with me...it's probably my sides........you ?

<font color="blue">'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'</font id="blue">

[MooseHole]

The reason you laugh when tickled is the same reason you laugh when you hear a good joke.  The punchline takes you by surprise.  When you get tickled, you don't know where the fingers are going to be from one moment to the next, so you're surprised about it.  When you tickle yourself, you know pretty much where you're going to be touching next, so the surprise is gone, and therefore so is the laughter.  The same thing happens to some people when watching scary movies.

[neilep (OP)]

Exactly !....it's a social thing.....except jokes can still be funny when you're alone...I should know..I'm sad enough to laugh at my own jokes too !!...cheers

'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'

[tweener]

I laugh at my own jokes sometimes. Usually they're not funny though.  I talk to myself a lot too, and sometimes answer my own questions.  Sometimes it just leads to an argument.


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John - The Eternal Pessimist.

[jai]

my daughter and i have found that sometimes we just cant be tickled. we also play tickle monster though we call it 'where is morrigan and what is this lump in her bed?'! usually played at bed time obviously and not the best game to leave her feeling peacefull and sleepy! however we have found that if we have just had a particularly hot shower, or have been sitting in front of the fire we cant be tickled. it seems that if we are hot and lethargic there is just no fun in being tickled and we just end up grumpy.

anybody else found this?

yes, but.........

[neilep (OP)]

Yep....agree with that Jai.....sometimes , if the mood is appropriate then the tickling has no effect...but, I have found that mostly on myself....especially if I put my mind to it.

The only times when my kids are not 'tickelable  is when they're in a bad mood.....the lethargy and heat thing is certainly a factor too.

'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'

[Quantumcat]

I heard that tickling makes you laugh because it's an invasion of your privacy and you laugh to dispel your disturbance. Tickling yourself has no effect because you can't invade your own privacy.

that's just what I heard, not sure if it's right :-p

Am I dead? Am I alive? I'm both!

[neilep (OP)]

Yep..that sounds about right too Erin.....it all leads to my initial point that tickling is predominantly a social event, and that solo tickling has little effect.

'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'

[jai]

i also heard that if a person suffering from schitzophrenia (sp?) tickled themselves then they would react. something to do with understanding who controls your actions. it was on the reef lectures 2003 if anyone heard it?



yes, but.........

[Monox D. I-Fly]

I laugh at my own jokes sometimes. Usually they're not funny though.  I talk to myself a lot too, and sometimes answer my own questions.  Sometimes it just leads to an argument.


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John - The Eternal Pessimist.

I did that, too. And I thought that was just my alter-ego.