Do you think that a fear of spiders is inborn or is a product of upbringing? It's a little of both I'm sure, but which do you think is the largest factor? Is there something ingrained in our brains that makes us afraid of creepy-crawly things, or do we learn it when people tell us that spiders bite, and when we see someone scream and violently smash a bug

weird question. I'm not afraid of spiders so can't really contribute, but I do like the movie Arachnophobia.

__________________
"I will do my best to understand and explain the universe from big to small without invoking miracles, unrepeatable events, or divine intervention. In place of those things I will use observations, mathematics, and science."


-Cross
My travel blog

Some of my Astrophotography


Those that lack education have a hard time understanding its value. - Cross

Hi, A friend of mine was working in a damp cellar, and got bit mear his belt buckle . Hospital....shots, damned sore, lost 4 weeks of work, still suffering.
Hates it. Says it is no fun at all.
The worst may be day time television.
Best regards, Dan

Well call it whatever you want, fear, dislike, whatever.

If you saw a non-poisonous spider craw under your pillow, would you lay down and go to sleep? I doubt it. There's a difference in the way you think about a spider and, for example, a kitten. I'm wondering if that is some biological basis for that.

I'm scared of spiders, and I have no idea why. The funny thing is that I used to catch all kinds of insects of all sizes (including wasps!) when I was younger, but spiders still give me the creeps. How's that for illogical? Why does something with eight legs freak me out, but stuff with six has no effect on me? It does make me wonder if there's something hardwired in my system to not like them.

__________________
Yes, they laughed at Einstein, but only because of his silly hairstyle; no one was actually laughing at his science.

Hard to untangle, but part of it may be that it is just about impossible to anthropomorphize the arachnid body plan.

__________________
The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

our brain reads first the appearance and its properties, then the term 'fear' comes later. if the appearance is shabby of any thing and the known properties are much adverse then brain start alert ourself to keep a distance from the thing.

secondly the rash on skin due to spider sometime create wounds too, even pus formation is also possible in some condition.

I don't know why, but I'm afraid of the things. When I know they can't or won't reach me it's no problem, but I dislike seeing one running in the house a lot.

Put me in a rocket and send me to the moon (I will be nervous of course) anytime, but don't let me in a room close to where I just saw a midsize spider run away and hide.

__________________
To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

Yes, I'd react differently to the spider than the kitten. I'd be far more upset about the kitten... I'm horribly allergic to cats! But, I do understand what you're talking about, I'd probably shoo the spider out of my bed as well (but I wouldn't be sneezing/wheezing while doing so). Spiders don't really bother me all that much. Basically, I think they are pretty cool little critters.

__________________
An open mind is like an open window...without a good screen you'll get all sorts of weird bugs!

Well, I think it's a little of both -- but I think also that it can be on an individual basis.

Why do some infants react with fear to the sight of a spider, while others will gurgle happily and try to pick it up?

I remember seeing a video in the second or third grade. . . . something akin to a public service message that's supposed to inform you of dangerous local animals. For a young child, it was a scary production. Of course, being the non-conformist that I am, I spent the rest of my life turning over rocks and logs looking for (what else?) spiders, lizards, and such. But perhaps this is where I got the uneasiness I feel when a big spider is crawing across my floor.

Spiders are not my favorite creature. . . . .but unless they're poisonous, I leave them alone when I see them. They are a predatory species after all, and who knows how many insects they kill?

The only thing for bug elimination that is better, IMHO, (and if you can stand to have them roaming around your house) are Mantids. A 6" female praying mantis will consume everything in your house smaller than herself, if left to her own devices. I used to let mine live on the drapes. They would occassionally go flying across the living room at full speed to snag a moth out of the air. Very entertaining, but most often they are ambush predators. It's rare to see a well fed mantid fly for food; they prefer to wait. I thought I would have to cage her when I got a cat. . . . .Somehow she impressed upon the cat the need to leave the mantis alone. It wouldn't go near any kind of mantid the rest of its life. Which was cool, because it sure wouldn't kill any pests. I never really saw any bugs in that house until the mantis died.

The unconscious fear of being crushed by a huge rock

__________________
To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

Somehow, our tiniest free roaming chicken managed to do that with the largest stray tomcat you've ever seen. I think that it was mainly because she didn't flee when seeing the cat, and hence never became a very entertaining object for a hunt. Instead, she looked him in the eyes (though from a rather safe distance ). Just saying "I've seen you already, start running and I fly up. You've lost already". They seemed to become more or less friends after a while, at least they didn't seem to have a full blown hunter-pray relation. More like "I trust you a tiny little bit".

A slightly different situations is your pet cat vs your other pets (I don't include the mantis in that, but anyway ). In my opinion, the cat notices from your behaviour that the other pets are part of the group and are of importance to you -alive- and therefore your cat will not kill your pet rabbits, birds... In general .

__________________
To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

I saw Bill Oddie on TV with a Dysdera the other night; he says 'there are stories that this species can bite',
then
'Ow. Ow ow! It's true, they can!'
But he still let the little creature run around on his hand after it bit him. Now that is the mark of a true nature lover.

__________________
Orion's Arm . The Starlark . Voices: Future Tense . OA Flickr set

I had a mantis and it killed a lot of bugs. But one morning I woke to find a daddy-longleg sucking on the mantis. It had tied the mantis' hands together with web. I guess this spider's exceptional reach gave it the edge. It amazed me how the mantis could eat spiders, obviously ingesting the venom, but if bitten, it would die.

I too am afraid of spiders. Not really the ones outside that make webs in your garden, but the indoor ones, especially the big black/brown house spiders. I think its partially because they are very fast and I worry that they will run onto and up my leg.

A couple years ago, I was sampling an exploration trench in Ghana. At on point, I glanced down and all I saw were legs coming toward me (it was on my chest). I nearly jumped out of my skin even though it really wasn't that big.

Ultimately I chalk it up as an irrational fear, since things like snakes and mice don't bother me that much (and snakes love those trenches - black cobras, green mambas, etc.).

__________________
Earth First! We'll mine the rest later.

It is largely irratonal indeed. But I can't help it. It's in most cases not to such an extent that it interferes with my life.

__________________
To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

That's pretty cool, actually. I have never seen a mantid fall to a 'lesser' creature, and I have kept several dozen at various times in my life. I fed them every kind of spider I could catch (even two brown recluses and a black widow), wasps, bees, salamanders, you name it. Everything that moved went right down its throat. The only thing my mantids would not consume were walking sticks, and I think that's because they were too camouflaged for the mantids. I would definitely say that was one frighteningly smart daddy longlegs. I have seen longlegs escape from the webs of other spiders before, so who knows? Maybe they're the Einsteins of the arachnid world.

I believe that the only natural predator of the praying mantis is the bat. I do know that the echolocator from a bat is pretty much the only thing a mantid is capable of hearing, which says to me it hasn't evolved to fear much of anything else.

I'm okay with spiders as long as a) they aren't on me, and b) I can see them, otherwise....

I have no idea why, I know I was fine with them as a child, and there are only 2 poisonous spiders in NZ (one of which is an Ozzie import) so it's not like I don't know that they are harmless, but somehow the fear over-rides my logic circuits and.... well yeah.

__________________
Howling from the Shadows

It must be fun to lead a life completely unburdened by reality. --- JayUtah

You can't reason an irrational person out of an irrational belief. --- Noclevername

Apollo: The History and the Hoax
Enter the World of Athran

I am afraid pf spiders and the sight of them causes me to run in the other direction.

I would guess it is more learned behavior (upbringing) than inborn. I probably wouldn't let a spider sleep in bed with me, but short of that I'm very tolerant of them. I actually like them in the house for their bug eating ways, as long as they don't put their webs across hallways, etc.

My wife, on the other hand, is very afraid of them, and will actually stay out of rooms if there is a spider in them. My job in life is to kill any spider she finds.

__________________
At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

In some cultures little crawly creatures of all kinds are a vital part of the diet of very young children.