Tuesday, October 22, 2013

But Why...

That's me, always wanting to know why. And how. And what. Just like a kid I'm still fascinated by things, by learning, by knowledge. I want to know everything. Or, if not everything, at least as much as possible.

Today's "why" started when I left the house this morning to go to work.

I walked through a spider's web that was stretched across the front path. There was that moment of total panic and flailing arms that every arachnophobe can empathise with, before I calmed down, safe in the knowledge that the web was unoccupied. I knew it was empty because there had been no blob in the middle to warn me it was there.

It's still dark at that time of the morning, but our front door faces east and there is enough light from the approaching dawn to make out shapes. I could quite clearly see the blobs in the other two webs stretching from the hanging baskets to the fuchsias (not across the path). Had there been an occupant to the web I found with my face I would have seen the blob and been warned that the web was there.

Whereupon I would have returned to the house and climbed over the back wall instead!!

But my reaction set me to thinking. I thought about it the entire journey to work - two bus trips, and almost an hour including waiting times.

Arachnophobia is one of the most common phobias. But why?? It makes no sense. Some of the other common phobias (in moderation) make a lot of sense when you think about them, especially if you consider today's humans' distant ancestors. Take acrophobia (fear of heights) for example. Very sensible if you don't want to be out hunting-and-gathering and fall to your death. You stay clear of cliff tops.

Or agoraphobia (fear of open spaces). Humans have made themselves into a predator species but our natural state is prey, not predator. (Prey animals breed prolifically so they make plenty of food for predators. Predators do not breed so heavily in order to reduce the danger of over-hunting. We breed like rabbits!!) If you are a prey animal you are very nervous to be out in the open, away from cover or bolt-holes. You are very vulnerable in that state. We may no longer be at risk since we've developed weapons more powerful than our natural predators but the race-memory of that fear is still there and can quite easily develop into a phobia.

Some of the rarer phobias are obviously linked to more personal circumstances, things like linonophobia (fear of string), nosocomephobia (fear of hospitals), arachibutyrophobia (fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth) - no, honestly, it really is a phobia Willie Garvin says so - though I doubt it's in the psychiatry books.

But arachnophobia?? It's not logical. And it's far too common to be linked to personal history. So why?? Yes, some spiders are large. And some are lethal. But the largest and the most lethal are on continents that have been settled quite recently (in terms of how long there have been humans or human-type species on this planet) by people of European origin. And they're the ones in whom the phobia is most (though not exclusively of course) common. The original inhabitants don't seem to be half as bothered. So why?? Why are so many people afraid of something that is generally 200 times smaller than they are??

I want to know!!

Maybe if I ever find out why I can stop being so bloody terrified of the things!!

Ze

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