- Kurtni Klaus:
- Not all spiders though, in fact very few of them. As far as "evolutionary impulses," why do most western societies not eat spiders, as they're a plentiful supply of nutrients? I think that's definitely a socialization issue more so than genetic wiring.
I'm scared of spiders too, but I know it's pure irrationality when I flee from my room at the sight of a granddaddy.
To be honest I don't know much about the theory, and I would assume it's mostly speculation at this point. But the general idea is that there's some sort of primitive part of our brain that tells us "hey, that thing moves funny! it might be poisonous!" The threat of spiders / snakes / insects that
are poisonous would be enough to override the fact that there are many that aren't, so people who stay away from them live longer and produce more offspring and, if, as is theorized, their predisposition of fear is in some way genetic, that would mean those genes should become dominant. Not all spiders etc. are venomous, but presumably your genes don't know the difference.
That a fear of spiders is pure socialization does seem more likely,
but you can argue that reverse is true: we, particularly in the western world where most spiders are not venomous, have been socialized
not to see them as a threat to our lives, but those of us who weren't socialized properly still have that fear. I wouldn't put a ton of stock in it, but it's an interesting idea.
And about the fear vs. phobia thing — to be fair, people use the term "phobia" pretty liberally these days. Certainly there's always someone out there who has a totally debilitating fear of something, but for the vast majority of the population, things like death, public speaking, clowns, and etc. are just fears, irrational though they may be.