 During his time in Norway , Reich attempted to ground his orgasm theory in biology , exploring whether Freud 's metaphor of the libido was in fact electricity or a chemical substance , an argument Freud had proposed in the 1890s but had abandoned . Reich argued that conceiving of the orgasm as nothing but mechanical tension and relaxation could not explain why some experience pleasure and others do not . He wanted to know what additional element had to be present for pleasure to be felt . 
