Raymond Tallis | on tickling

Raymond Tallis is a neuroscientist who apart from being at home in other scientific disciplines, is also a poet and philosopher. When the film crew offers him a croissant, he jokes that his beard will need checking for crumbs, otherwise it will attract all the viewer’s attention. It is no doubt quite intentional that Johan Grimonprez chooses to break through the formal framework of his film, because it neatly illustrates Tallis’ argument that human consciousness is fundamentally relational—you can only be yourself in relation to others.

According to Tallis, a more accurate version of Descartes’ famous statement “I think, therefore I am” would be “We dialogue, therefore we are.” You can’t tickle yourself, you really need someone else to do it.

Tallis’ words are reinforced by an eclectic montage of found footage of running rabbits, waddling penguins, collapsing houses, an astronaut making crackly contact with Mother Earth, and two men violently arguing and smashing up the furniture in a television studio. After all, to have a fight you also need another person.