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Mutual desire is normally signaled by a pretty weird act.
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Two organs, otherwise used for eating and speaking, are rubbed and pressed against one another with increasing force.
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Accompanied by the secretion of saliva.
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A tongue normally precisely manipulated to articulate vowel sounds.
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Or to push mash potato or broccoli to the rear of the palate.
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Now moves forward to meet its counterpart, whose tip might touch in repeated staccato movements.
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One would have to carefully explain to an alien visitor from Keppler 9B what's going on.
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They're not about to bite chunks out of each other cheeks or attempting to inflate one another.
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Why is kissing so significant and potentially so exciting?
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Sexual excitement is psychological.
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It's not so much what our bodies happen to be doing, that's getting us turned on.
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It's what happening in our imaginations that matters.
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Partly, the excitement of kissing is the result of social codes being breached.
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We could imagine a society where it was very forbidden, and yet very special for two people to rub the gap between index finger and thumb together.
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The first time you did it, would be something you'd remember all your life.
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The huge meaning of kissing is something we've built up by social agreement.
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And its fundamental definition is: I accept you, enough to do something potentially quite revolting with you.
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The inside of a mouth is deeply private, ordinarily it would be utterly nauseating to have a stranger poke their tongue into your face.
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To allow someone to do these things, signals of a fundamental level of acceptance.
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All of us suffer from strong feelings of shame.
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Which another's kiss starts to work on overcoming.
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Aside from our public identities, we all have lonelier, private selves.
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Which is what we feel we getting and giving access to...through a kiss.
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Our mouths become privileged arenas in which to surrender our defenses.
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And gift ourselves to another, physical pleasure aside.
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That's why it's so very exciting.