Humanity is delightfully diverse, yet we’re also wonderfully the same. For all our differences, many of our fundamental needs, desires, and impulses are universal. One of those impulses? Kissing our own knees, apparently. A six-second TikTok video shared by a young woman in the Philippines demonstrating the phenomenon went wildly viral, racking up more than 18 million views and 2.7 million likes. @rastagee_ #tiktokph #tiktokphilippines #foryou #fyp #foryoupage ♬ sonido original – Vibes by Ley Rasta G. simply sits on a chair with one foot up on the seat. She suddenly looks down, notices her knee, then gently kisses it. People all around the world said, “Wait, I’m not the only one who does this?” Who knew kissing your own knee was such a universal impulse? Comment after comment revealed that people do this but had no idea others did, too: “So I’m not a weirdo?” “I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE.” “TikTok slowly make me realize I’m not the only weird one. We ALL weird. ” “HAHAHAHA why you exposing us.” “I knew before you did it.” “I’m never alone in my weird experiences. ” “Not a single unique experience .” “More proof that nothing I do is unique and I’m not weird. Thank you. ” “So in conclusion we’re all the same just in different fonts.” “Kissing knees is universal.” “I’m cracking up omg we are all connected.” Indeed, others have publicly shared the impulse as well: @stevens_demons Why does kissing your knee feel so right #kneekissing #intrusivethoughts ♬ original sound – Gracemurrphy Why, though? What is it about having our knee in our face that makes us want to kiss it? People weighed in on that, too: “I have a theory: I think it’s because we don’t see him often so as soon as we see him, we kiss him to show our affection.” “I don’t see her often, might as well.” “‘Oh haven‘t seen you in a while. '” “Its like a long distance relationship.” “A lil kiss for encouragement, cause they don’t work very well but they’re doing their best ” “I mean they help you walk ,so a little thank you.” “I feel so maternal about my knees.” “It’s like kissing your baby’s head.” @itsabbywenzel why is it every time i sit like this i want to kiss my knee??? ♬ original sound – user Many people said they do the same thing with their shoulders: “I do this to my shoulders too ” “I’m like that with my bare shoulder hahah – feels comfortable.” “I do this . Like I love seeing my shoulder all shiny and smooth. Deserves a kiss fr.” @thandie.lelimo …If its out it deserves it #kisses #selflove ♬ sonido original – Vibes by Ley Theories about why we kiss our own knees (and shoulders) Of course, not everyone does this. But apparently, a whole lot of us do. And the reason why isn’t entirely clear. There are no studies on the subject, and there don’t appear to be masses of people asking their therapists about this habit. It’s just something we do, and people pointed to several potential reasons why: The roundness of our knee looks like a baby’s head. Shoulders do, too—kind of. Perhaps seeing it so close to our face evokes the same urge we get to kiss babies on the top of the head. It could simply be a biological urge being triggered. Baby heads are irresistibly kissable. Photo credit: Canva It’s a self-soothing behavior. When we were little, our moms, dads, or other caregivers may have kissed our boo-boos, and kids get a lot of boo-boos on their knees. So some of us may automatically associate gentle kisses on the knee with comfort. It’s a way to show our bodies love and gratitude. A lot of the sentiment in the comments is that we don’t really see our knees very often, which is true. So when one is close to our face, we may be reminded of what they do for us. Ask someone with knee problems how important our knees are. It’s a good reminder to give them a little thank-you for their hard work. We’re weird, but no weirder than anyone else. Maybe we’re all just quirky little humans who do random things for no good reason whatsoever. But at least now we know we’re not alone on that front. The post A woman in the Philippines filmed herself kissing her knee. The reaction was universal. appeared first on Upworthy.