asked
Why do humans laugh when tickled?
Most species respond to tickling or other light touches by withdrawing to avoid the attack on the vulnerable area. It appears that we learn to laugh at tickling as children only when we perceive the tickling as a mock attack that is actually an act of personal closeness. Interestingly, recent research by the cognitive neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore has shown that we can’t tickle ourselves, no matter how hard we try.
