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I was in the bathroom about to wash my face and I guess a spider got into my washcloth and as i touched the washcloth to my face it jumped out into the sink and I jumped like a little girl and banged my knee. It's just a spider but there are deadly varieties out there (I doubt this was one of them). What makes people so afraid of them? Why do people find them so disgusting? In what way do they help the ecosystem?

2006-08-06 21:58:35 · 10 answers · asked by Greg Z 1 in Environment

10 answers

for eons, humans evolved in situations where we would have to be careful of other animals, because they were dangerous. your fright is simply evolution's result. you've been bred to be afraid of anything with more than 2 legs. that's because humans who didn't have this fear usually were killed by wild animals, back in the stone age and all. remember...chickens and cowards live longer.

2006-08-06 22:04:04 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4 3

In the past it was beneficial for our ancestors to be afraid of spiders because some of them were deadly. Those who were afraid and avoided the spiders were the ones who lived. This fear can be triggered in people nowadays as well, although I'm not sure why only some people are afraid of spiders while others are not. It probably has something to do with upbringing. For example, if your mother was terrified of spiders, you may have learned from an early age that spiders are something to fear.

2006-08-08 05:44:18 · answer #2 · answered by Crushgal 3 · 3 0

Part of your primitive brain reacts automatically to certain threats. Although not everyone reacts the same way to spiders, everyone reacts to something. Throw a coiled rope into a group of chimpanzees and they'll all startle until their higher brain figures out it's not a snake.

My wife has the same reaction. I don't and never have, and I've finally gotten her to be a little more passive to beneficial spiders. I suggest you do what she did and start reading about various spiders that you see in your area. Knowledge of the threat allows your higher brain functions to begin taking over and lessen your reaction.

Spiders are great to have around. I particularly like jumping spiders since they lurk around on the ceiling and nail mosquitoes. Think of them as your best line of defense against West Nile Virus.

2006-08-06 22:11:43 · answer #3 · answered by Pepper 4 · 5 0

People are afraid is probably because people don't understand them. True some spiders are dangerous, such as the black widow and the Sydney funnel web. But you have to understand that most of them aren't at all dangerous to humans. Best way is for you to educate yourself. And in the US there is only two spiders species who venom will put you into the hospital. They are the black widow spider and the brown recluse. Although the bite of tarantula is painful, their effect is no worse than a bee sting,unless you are allergic. There is no need to be afraid of them. It is true they are more afraid of you, then you are to them. And they do play an important role in the ecosystem by being major predators on insects. As well as predators they are also prey. Spiders themselves are preyed upon by lizards, frogs, birds and by predatory insects, such as the preying mantis and wasps. In fact the tarantula's no. 1 enemy is the tarantula hawk wasp. So spiders do play an important role in the ecosystem, just like any creature.

2006-08-10 11:38:16 · answer #4 · answered by megatron 4 · 1 2

I believe they seem so scary to people because others over the years have warned us so much about how "bad" spiders are. I'm peronally not too afraid of them, and have been bit by black widows several times which are very deadly. I think the help to the ecosystem they are, is that they build those annoying webs that we have to constantly clean out of corners and things, the webs catch the flying insects that also annoy us.

2006-08-06 22:09:01 · answer #5 · answered by donovan49_e71 2 · 1 1

Because some people think that spiders is a deadly creature that will attack you so your body makes a reflex action to stay away from it. But if touch a small harmless spider (then tou turn to spiderman lol) you may get rid of the phobia.

2006-08-06 22:08:55 · answer #6 · answered by The Kid 3 · 4 1

I would say were afraid of spiders because they're creepy looking and were afraid if they're on us because we don't know what they are going to do and no one wants to find something creepy looking on themselfs and people find them disgusting I think because they think if they find one spider then they will find more and that means the spider or spiders came from outside or maybe the spider could have laid a whole bunch of eggs and people might think spiders could crawl inside them and well I've heared something that makes me think spiders could crawl in your nose and throaght and spiders help the ecosystem because they eat bad bugs that kill things oh and I have stories about spiders like once I watched a show about spiders and I went to bed after watching that show and I was thinking about spiders and that they were in my bed and I couldn't sleep because I was thinking that so I decided the only way I could sleep would be without my bedspread and my sheets and I actually did that and one other time I was home alone and there was a big spider on my wall and I tried to get it with 2 cups like you know get the spider in one cup and the other cup is the lid but I flung the spider and didn't know where it went except for I thought it was on me at first but it was on the floor under a blanket and one i picked up that blanket it ran out of my room into my bathrom and then i closed the bathroom door and put towls underneath the door so it couldn't get out of the bathroom and eventually the spider crawled into my bathtub and was stuck there and my dad had to get that spider for me and kill it because I was to afraid of it to get it myself

2006-08-06 22:45:07 · answer #7 · answered by Lucy202 1 · 0 4

I'm like you. i was in the shower (pregnant mind you with my son) as i got out i grabbed the towel and out jumped a huntsman on to the shower basin. It frightened the hell out of me, i screamed. It happened again in the kitchen not so long ago one jumped on my arm and i screamed. I swear at them I call them you f$%^ wanker you son of a ***** mother $%^&. I go right off my head beucause im sick of them scaring me all the time. Although the huntsman spiders are good because they kill the other house spiders, thats why you see them in the house more then outside, we have a lot of them at a certain time of the year. The daddy-long-legs are good too becuase they eat the red backs and other spiders, because their venom is more poisonous then any other spider. They can't bite us becuase their fangs are too tiny. So they are good in a way but i still hate them

2006-08-06 22:12:27 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 7 1

Yeah, but most of them have little mouths with a big bite. Spider bites hurt more than mosquito bites.

2006-08-06 22:03:21 · answer #9 · answered by Terri 2 · 2 0

People are afraid probably because they can be poisonous and they have little ******* hairy legs and they ar all fugly's

2006-08-06 22:04:06 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 7 3

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