• Question: Why are so many people scared of siders?

    Asked by username0error0 to Charlotte, Jo, Kevin, Louise, Valeria on 16 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by lucyluvslemurs.
    • Photo: Joanna Cruden

      Joanna Cruden answered on 16 Jun 2012:

      Sometimes I guess they have had a bad experience when they were younger, maybe one made them jump and while they have repressed or forgotten the experience the memory of the fear they felt remains. Some people pick up these fears from their parents, there usually is a reason but sometimes it needs therapy to get to the root cause, and sometimes there does not seem to be any reason. Mind you it is not always a bad thing to be afraid of as some are dangerous, so maybe sometimes it is just instinctive

    • Photo: Kevin Mahon

      Kevin Mahon answered on 19 Jun 2012:

      A solid evolutionary reason for the zoophobias, such as arachnophobia, fear of snakes or mice, etc. remains unresolved for the most part.

      One view, especially held in evolutionary psychology, is that the presence of venomous spiders led to the evolution of a fear of spiders – that is, the fear while seemingly irrational served to help protect early humans from poisoning.

      Interesting to say the least, but not something we can readily prove!

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