One completely useless fact I love sharing is that scientists still do not fully agree on why tickling makes us laugh.

Which is strange when you think about it.

Laughter usually means something is funny. Tickling is not funny in the traditional sense. Nobody touches your ribs and you suddenly appreciate the structure of a well-crafted joke.

Your body just decides: apparently we are laughing now.

Tickling seems to involve a mix of touch, surprise, anticipation, and social interaction. Your brain reacts differently when another person tickles you than when you try to tickle yourself.

In fact, most people cannot really tickle themselves because the brain predicts the sensation caused by their own movements and turns down the response.

So apparently the secret ingredient in tickling is not just touch.

It is not knowing exactly what is coming next.

There are theories that tickling and the laughter it produces may have developed partly as a form of social bonding or playful interaction, especially between parents and children.

But we still do not have one perfectly settled explanation for why someone touching a specific spot on your side can make you laugh uncontrollably while also desperately trying to make them stop.

Is this useful information?

Not remotely.

But the next time somebody tickles you, you can at least take comfort in knowing that your ridiculous reaction is scientifically complicated.

What’s a completely useless fact you love sharing?

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