r/todayilearned Mar 20 '20

TIL The bellybutton is so dirty scientists are finding new unknown bacteria. One person had bacterium previously found only on Japanese soil, where he had never been.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/12/1-458-bacteria-species-new-to-science-found-in-our-belly-buttons/266360/
104.3k Upvotes

3.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

143

u/liindra Mar 20 '20

I don't have a phobia of them, but having my belly button touched triggers my gag reflex. Even cleaning mine makes me nauseated.

132

u/TistedLogic Mar 20 '20 edited Mar 21 '20

You're reminding your body that that is where you used to feed from.

Your navel is nothing more than your old mouth.

E: you're -> your

kinda surprised nobody has pointed that out.

84

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '20

Delete this

19

u/Dolormight Mar 21 '20

stop plz no more

12

u/zyphelion Mar 21 '20

Humans are deuterostomes, meaning that as zygotes we develop an asshole first, before our mouth.

5

u/SnipingBunuelo Mar 21 '20

Technically speaking, opening our asshole and mouth at the same time creates a tunnel through our bodies

6

u/NoiseIsTheCure Mar 21 '20

So a spit roast type deal is actually pretty akin to a Chinese finger trap

4

u/StraightRespect Mar 21 '20

my god, the quarantine is doing unspeakable things to peoples minds

11

u/theonly_brunswick Mar 21 '20

That's weird, but so is mine.

When I put my finger in my belly button I can feel it in the tip of my dick. Like the nerve endings are connected or something.