are you scared of spiders?

[danny_scrilla]

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[cityzen]

You guys know youre afraid of spider because of an evolutionary trait we all share, right? Its the same reflex that gives you goosebumps from a high pitched noise or makes you anxious around tall edges.

I know this is true so I would be interested to know how it's turned off when we rationalise the situation. I mean, it's not quite an instinct. What parts of the brain are in use?
Can fear of anything simply be embraced? Maybe that's for a different thread.

[say_whut]

I fucking hate them. I live in Scotland, but we get some horrible looking fuckers. When it rains at night, just keep your windows shut. The twats come in all the time when it rains. Here's my two worst encounters, the second of which only happened 2 nights ago.

Around 3 years ago, 16 year old me was playing Saints Row on the xbox. I was sat up on my cabin bed just doing whatever and I paused the game for whatever reason and looked to my left at the wall. I shit you not, there was a spider the size of my fucking hand. It was MASSIVE. It was a mild beige colour with really long legs. I jumped up and off my bed landing is a squirming heap pulling myself out of my room as fast as my mangled legs would carry me. I return later and its no where to be seen. Chances are it squatted under my bed. I don't live there anymore so it can go fuck itself.

The more recent one was actually not too bad. Usually I'm a complete pussy and amp myself up to kill spiders but usually fuck it up and they just crawl around my room and I'm just rolling around in bed, all paranoid that I'm going to get killed by it. However, this time I didn't fuck around. I just so happened to be browsing this very forum on my laptop while in bed and I see a little thing scuttle across the carpet. I lean over and see its a thick spider. Long legs that were so long the pointed up wards. I promptly followed it with a slipper in hand. It stopped at the skirting boards of my room and I smashed it. 3 fucking slaps it took. The second one caused it to fling up in the air, I batted it down with the third and left my slipper on top of the dead tnuc that I would dispose of the following morning.

[aspect-dubz]

Found a tarantula living in my shoe once. Didn't realize it at first and suspected someone had put something in there for a prank, only when i put my hand in to pull it out and it started moving did i know.

[ComfiStile]

Wouldn't say i liked them, and if there was one crawling on my i'd freak out a bit.

So, no. Unless they are waspspiders. I fucking hate wasps and shit myself regularly about them lol.

[noam]

i actually smoked a spider once

in my third year house in Leeds we had all the spiders in the basement, totally cool with them except it made the place look trampy and weird, they were the fly-catcher type, with really long front legs that spin a little net and catch flies with it - awesome!



anyway, my housemate had one of these



for those of you who dont know, its an electric flyswatter - cool things, you can sneak up on your mates and just slap it on their face, or lightly brushing their ears works REALLY well

so i had this thing, and i was mega bored, and i decided to test the flyswatter on the spiders in our basement, and i go down, persuade a spider to crawl onto it, then turn it on (evil right?). th thing frazzles for a second then just goes on fire and a nasty burned hair smell plumes off it aswell as a little 'poof' of smoke.

i killed pretty much every spider in the basement

i then brought one upstairs, and fried it... and, well... kinda smoked it. it was proper funny at the time, mainly cos it tasted SO FUCKING BAD i almost insta-vommed.

so yeh, smoked a spider

[magma]

You guys know youre afraid of spider because of an evolutionary trait we all share, right? Its the same reflex that gives you goosebumps from a high pitched noise or makes you anxious around tall edges.

I know this is true so I would be interested to know how it's turned off when we rationalise the situation. I mean, it's not quite an instinct. What parts of the brain are in use?
Can fear of anything simply be embraced? Maybe that's for a different thread.

I've read some pretty convincing theory about our natural fear of snakes/reptiles too (along with spiders, pretty much our only natural enemies that aren't obviously bigger/stronger than us)... even babies NEED to know to get the fuck out of the way if they see a cobra. The brain is pretty good at overriding instinct with intelligent thought, though, it's one of our main advantages over a lot of other species. We can't do it with everything... try holding your breath until you pass out...

I hate spiders, but I've been trying to calm myself down about them for about 10 years now because I hate flies more and spiders eat flies. I've got a big fucker sitting in the corner of my room patrolling for mosquitoes at the moment. My enemy's enemy is my ally.

[noam]

You guys know youre afraid of spider because of an evolutionary trait we all share, right? Its the same reflex that gives you goosebumps from a high pitched noise or makes you anxious around tall edges.

I know this is true so I would be interested to know how it's turned off when we rationalise the situation. I mean, it's not quite an instinct. What parts of the brain are in use?
Can fear of anything simply be embraced? Maybe that's for a different thread.

I've read some pretty convincing theory about our natural fear of snakes/reptiles too (along with spiders, pretty much our only natural enemies that aren't obviously bigger/stronger than us)... even babies NEED to know to get the fuck out of the way if they see a cobra. The brain is pretty good at overriding instinct with intelligent thought, though, it's one of our main advantages over a lot of other species. We can't do it with everything... try holding your breath until you pass out...

I hate spiders, but I've been trying to calm myself down about them for about 10 years now because I hate flies more and spiders eat flies. I've got a big fucker sitting in the corner of my room patrolling for mosquitoes at the moment. My enemy's enemy is my ally.

baby's aren't naturally scared of them though

its all learned behaviour surely??

look at the kids in s.e asia who play wth snakes to a crowd, there's kids there that are mega-young that dont have one bit of fear

when you're a kid you'll learn from your pussy-ass parents what to be scared of an what not to be scared of

im more inclined to believe that things which move fast and can climb walls and dangle down 'shock' us and thats our evolutionary programming there, but actual fear im sure is something you just get from people who are older - dont have nay evidence for this except kids who aren't afraid

[magma]

baby's aren't naturally scared of them though

its all learned behaviour surely??

look at the kids in s.e asia who play wth snakes to a crowd, there's kids there that are mega-young that dont have one bit of fear

A very small minority of kids, in an extremely snake-friendly environment learn not to be scared of them... I think they might be the exception rather than the rule

Either way, it's a point for debate and not fact... it would help join up a few dots though; why is it humans are so likely to see snakes/reptiles in dreams and hallucinagenic experiences? Why do we so naturally identify reptile faces over other types of animal (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 121840.htm)? Why do people who take too many mind-bending drugs start thinking that reptiles run the world?

My nephew (18 months at the time and only just able to talk) without any prompting, was scared to death of a toy snake until I played with it first.

[laurent__duval]

You guys know youre afraid of spider because of an evolutionary trait we all share, right? Its the same reflex that gives you goosebumps from a high pitched noise or makes you anxious around tall edges.

I know this is true so I would be interested to know how it's turned off when we rationalise the situation. I mean, it's not quite an instinct. What parts of the brain are in use?
Can fear of anything simply be embraced? Maybe that's for a different thread.

I've read some pretty convincing theory about our natural fear of snakes/reptiles too (along with spiders, pretty much our only natural enemies that aren't obviously bigger/stronger than us)... even babies NEED to know to get the fuck out of the way if they see a cobra. The brain is pretty good at overriding instinct with intelligent thought, though, it's one of our main advantages over a lot of other species. We can't do it with everything... try holding your breath until you pass out...

I hate spiders, but I've been trying to calm myself down about them for about 10 years now because I hate flies more and spiders eat flies. I've got a big fucker sitting in the corner of my room patrolling for mosquitoes at the moment. My enemy's enemy is my ally.

baby's aren't naturally scared of them though

its all learned behaviour surely??

look at the kids in s.e asia who play wth snakes to a crowd, there's kids there that are mega-young that dont have one bit of fear

when you're a kid you'll learn from your pussy-ass parents what to be scared of an what not to be scared of

not so, both my parents had absolutely no problem with spiders. my dad took the piss out of me all the time for it.

they're both terrified of snakes though and i love snakes, wanted a pet one for years but they never let me.

[cityzen]

look at the kids in s.e asia who play wth snakes to a crowd, there's kids there that are mega-young that dont have one bit of fear

I'm fairly sure I saw a documentary with one of the kids you're talking about and he was saying how he is scared of them but he uses the heightened sense of danger as a tool to keep him on the edge. I think he went on to philosophise how the fear is intertwined with respect and the moment you lose either is when the snake'll get cha!
I'm not saying you're wrong, just a little anecdotal fuel for the fire.

[Duffman]

I get this thing were I wake up for a couple of seconds and I'm not fully awake and still sorta dreaming. In those few seconds I always wake up to see huge fuck off spiders crawling around my room. The hallucinations only last for a few seconds but it creeps the fuck out of me, especially since I'm since I'm not fully awake.


Just went to the toilet after posting that and when I went to get the bog roll and feckin spider flung off the roll.


Though it landed in the toilet and I flushed that bastard away

[noam]

learned behaviour doesn't jst come from parents

it comes from everywhere - environment etc.

kids stories about spiders creeping up on people and scaring them - BOOOOO! kid jumps, associates spiders with being scared

im defo willing to concede that its like, 50/50 learned and evolution

although the older i've got ive gravitated more and more towards social programming as base of a lot of behaviour as opposed to natural inclinations/dispositions... all but the instincts really i believe can and is socially conditioned

[__________]

i actually smoked a spider once

Hatcha once put a dead moth in a spliff and gave it to Kromestar who smoked it all up unknowingly

[gnome]

I have no fear regarding our 8 legged friends.

[magma]

learned behaviour doesn't jst come from parents

it comes from everywhere - environment etc.

Indeed, but where is an 18 month old kid in Somerset who can't talk getting a fear of pythons from?

Experience is a major factor, of course, we're learning every second of every day and our hopes, fears, likes and dislikes shift accordingly each time... but just as dogs treat us differently than any other animals without 'thinking' about it (they even know instinctively which side of our face to watch for emotion), it doesn't strike me as particularly odd that we'd have some similar instincts.

Strangly, petting a dog causes similar chemical releases in the body to cradling a baby.... but the same isn't true for petting other animals. Seems we have some "natural" friends as well as enemies in the animal kingdom.

Millions of years of evolution cause some interesting behaviour patterns, but you're right, nothing creates truly bizarre behaviour as well as simply living.

[laurent__duval]

learned behaviour doesn't jst come from parents

it comes from everywhere - environment etc.

Indeed, but where is an 18 month old kid in Somerset who can't talk getting a fear of pythons from?

the jungle book. kaa is a nasty little bastard in it. got that whole passive agressive thing down to a tee, definitely taught all about stranger danger and that! not scared of snakes, mind.

[dub-ray]

yes, i make my spouse kill them.

[deadly_habit]

nope
spiders are bros

[hifi]

i actually smoked a spider once

Hatcha once put a dead moth in a spliff and gave it to Kromestar who smoked it all up unknowingly

ahahahahah