[Halloween?] Why are you scared of spiders, or anything smaller than you? [Archive]

SwoLy-D

10-31-2009, 12:50 PM

I read someone's story on a facebook thread about killing a spider inside his car... then other people posted how they were scared of spiders.

My question is: why are you--a human being--scared of spiders, creatures much much smaller than you? :confused:

I can understand if it crawls on your shoulder and you're surprised, or if someone hangs it over your face *that's what she said*, but a spider... crawling... or on a wall... and you're scared? I mean, I can probably understand how some kids or women might be scared... but once you're an adult... take off your shoe, grab a newspaper, and smash the living daylights out of it, and you're done.

I just don't think it has any logic. C'mon, now. :rolleyes:

I'd like to discuss WHY.

J-Mac

10-31-2009, 12:55 PM

If there was a deadly cobra in front of you, would you be scared?

marks0223

10-31-2009, 12:55 PM

http://images.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2002/07/17/eight_legged_freaks/story.jpg

Mr. Clutch

10-31-2009, 12:57 PM

Well I am scared of bees and wasps because i've been stung a few times and it effin' hurts. :o

Ziggy

10-31-2009, 12:58 PM

I picked up a cicada when I was about 5. Just messing with it and then it starting buzzing very loudly in my hands. My parents say I cried and screamed, etc... been scared of certain bugs ever since. Particularly the ugly ones. Preying Mantis & stink bugs terrify me. I am put-off more by bugs than I am legitimate threats like snakes, tigers, bears, etc...

Franchise2001

10-31-2009, 12:58 PM

Yesterday morning I was pouring a bowl of cereal while I was still halfway asleep. As I'm pouring the milk, this huge freaking spider (the rain from the night before prob brought him inside) jumps out of the bowl and scares the living **** out of me. Needless to say, he was sent into the afterlife pretty fast. They are just creepy and I had a few run-ins with poisonous spiders during my childhood.

SwoLy-D

10-31-2009, 12:59 PM

If there was a deadly cobra in front of you, would you be scared?My answer would be NO, because I would find a way to get away or not to scare it into defending itself against me. :o

But that's a totally different animal that's bigger and longer *that's what she said* with much more potent venom and FASTER. There's little to no comparison, sir.

FlyerFanatic

10-31-2009, 01:01 PM

My answer would be NO, because I would find a way to get away or not to scare it into defending itself against me. :o

But that's a totally different animal that's bigger and longer *that's what she said* with much more potent venom and FASTER. There's little to no comparison, sir.

you are the TWSS king

Mr. Brightside

10-31-2009, 01:25 PM

I'm not afraid of spiders. I sometimes let them run on my hand. I can't stand roaches though.

B-Bob

10-31-2009, 01:32 PM

There is something of an alien intelligence/sentience about them that is creepy, as if they are plotting something.

I have a nasty spider bite right now; the yard is full of them, and they make these huge webs that I end up running right through in the a.m.

Maybe its their eyes, or the eight legs that makes them so alien.

The small size can actually be scarier than if they were a little larger. As in, I've walked through the web (again) and... do I feel something moving on my head, or is that my imagination? Is that the feeling of eight tiny legs on my neck, moving into my shirt?

Royals Ego

10-31-2009, 01:33 PM

some spiders are venomous, the few with arachnophobia were the ones that checked every corn to make sure there were no spiders in their cave, thus the likeliness of the trait being passed on

SwoLy-D

11-02-2009, 12:10 PM

THIS is the original thread Manny copied. :p
some spiders are venomous, the few with arachnophobia were the ones that checked every corn to make sure there were no spiders in their cave, thus the likeliness of the trait being passed onOK, if they're bigger than you, or in a group, I can see why, but... if they're smaller... and are slow on their legs... why be scared of them? I still don't see the logic. :o

Nice Rollin

11-02-2009, 12:12 PM

My question is: why are you--a human being--scared of spiders, creatures much much smaller than you? :confused:

exactly!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Steve_Irwin.jpg/260px-Steve_Irwin.jpg

too soon?

LCII

11-02-2009, 12:16 PM

It's a fear instinct we inherited from our ancestors. The humans that didn't fear insects, snakes, and other nasty creatures had a higher chance of being in mortal danger. Survival of the fittest...or most cautious.

I mean, can you imagine a world where everyone was like Steve Irwin, aka the Crocodile hunter? Obviously that guy did not have the fear-of-nasty-creatures gene in him and look what happened to him...

Rashmon

11-02-2009, 01:07 PM

SwoLy-D

11-02-2009, 01:09 PM

Get bit by a teeny tiny brown recluse spider that you never even see.

Come tell us about your experience after 6 months.The question is not "Hey, why are you so mad and sick from getting bit by a spider, you guys??!?!? It's fun!" :rolleyes:

The question is "why are you scared of such small animal?" because you see it and then you can stomp on it, kill it, run away from it, etc.

Getting bit by it is a totally different question, sir. I know that's nothing to smile about. :o

RocketRaccoon

11-02-2009, 01:39 PM

3rd grade:

I was wrestling with my bro in the backyard and when I stood up my white t-shirt was COVERED with ants...moving ants...biting ants.

To this day I can't wipe all those ants off. The image of them on me is so vivid...even today.

Does this mean I'm scared of them? I don't think so, but I'm sure that experience programmed me to be VERY careful around those little boogers, and to be honest I think I kept some of the same reactions....aaaaiiiiiiiiiiihhhhhhhhh, MOMMMMMMMMMM!

Yonkers

11-02-2009, 02:13 PM

I'm scared of cock roaches. Not phobia scared where if I see a picture of them in a book I can't touch the book anymore. (My wife is like that with snakes.)
But if they crawl on my skin I'll scream like a little girl. And they're friggin fast and hard to kill. You smash them with a newspaper, turn to get a paper towel to clean up, turn back and they're gone. Risen from the dead like Jason.
Yeah, they're smaller than me but just so damned icky. They pop when you step on them. Bleh!

Convictedstupid

11-02-2009, 02:17 PM

Im not a big fan of cockroaches... I wont jump back. Theyre just pretty gross.

Only insect I am 'afraid' of are scorpions.

Fatty FatBastard

11-02-2009, 02:17 PM

The question is not "Hey, why are you so mad and sick from getting bit by a spider, you guys??!?!? It's fun!" :rolleyes:

The question is "why are you scared of such small animal?" because you see it and then you can stomp on it, kill it, run away from it, etc.

Getting bit by it is a totally different question, sir. I know that's nothing to smile about. :o

Because you could miss, and they could retaliate.

Hell hath no wrath like a pissed-off spider.

SwoLy-D

11-02-2009, 02:27 PM

Because you could miss, and they could retaliate.

Hell hath no wrath like a pissed-off spider.
Your shoe. A Spider. Your newspaper rolled up. A Spider. Your Flyswater. A Spider. Your youngest kid. A Spider. Anything you throw at it is bigger than the spider... yet you still miss? FAIL. :p You deserve to get your ass retaliated upon for "missing", señor Gordito BastardoGordo.

Manny Ramirez

11-02-2009, 04:37 PM

THIS is the original thread Manny copied. :p

Honestly, dude I didn't even know you had this thread.

SwoLy-D

11-02-2009, 04:54 PM

Honestly, dude I didn't even know you had this thread.I was kiddin'. It seemed you'd have taken your idea from this thread, though. ;)

Fatty FatBastard

11-02-2009, 04:58 PM

Your shoe. A Spider. Your newspaper rolled up. A Spider. Your Flyswater. A Spider. Your youngest kid. A Spider. Anything you throw at it is bigger than the spider... yet you still miss? FAIL. :p You deserve to get your ass retaliated upon for "missing", señor Gordito BastardoGordo.

You telling me that you've never walked into a web or seen a spider run into hiding before you swat them?

It's just an uneasy feeling. Especially in your car.

Depressio

11-02-2009, 04:58 PM

My question is: why are you--a human being--scared of spiders, creatures much much smaller than you? :confused:
You know what environments brown recluses enjoy? The folds of your clothes on the ground or in your hamper.

Do you know what a surprise brown recluse bite can do to you? Yeaaaahh.

Dave_78

11-02-2009, 05:03 PM

If a spider is on my wall 20 feet from me it is no immediate threat but I'm not interested in letting him run free in my house to potentially bite me later.

SwoLy-D

11-02-2009, 05:16 PM

You telling me that you've never walked into a web or seen a spider run into hiding before you swat them?

It's just an uneasy feeling. Especially in your car.:eek: A web!!! OMG!!!! Ewww get it off me!!! :rolleyes:

Yeah, NO. It's not scary. Yes, I have walked into one. Which one are we discussing here, a web, or a spider? Please.You know what environments brown recluses enjoy? The folds of your clothes on the ground or in your hamper.

Do you know what a surprise brown recluse bite can do to you? Yeaaaahh.You're telling me you don't check clothes before putting them on :confused: ? Not to say I do that ALL the time, but at least I check my clothes and closet for spiders and such stuff, and we wash often. I can't let that happen, man. Yeah, it can bite me. If it bites me, so it does. But I am not scared of it if I see it before it bites me. That's my point.

At least you're not screamin' like a little elementary school girl, are you, Dave_78? :D

joesr

11-02-2009, 05:33 PM

I think its because when you dont see it or it goes into a small crack that you cant get too. But now you know its around.

Its not being afraid of the small 8 legged bug but more of the potential venom it carries.

Also, sometimes these damn buggers just look scary.

Growing up in Hawaii, banana spiders.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Qm2i8mXTjhs/SX2RbqvWxpI/AAAAAAAABNI/D8TeOTQazU4/s400/heather-banana-spider-780243.jpg

Growing up in Colorado, damn wolf spiders, I think thats what they were, hairy as hell.

What about those dman camel spiders, yeah I know they arent here but I would scream like a little girl if thise thing was just chillin watching me type this reply.

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/images/camel-spiders.jpg

Depressio

11-02-2009, 05:55 PM

You're telling me you don't check clothes before putting them on :confused: ? Not to say I do that ALL the time, but at least I check my clothes and closet for spiders and such stuff, and we wash often. I can't let that happen, man. Yeah, it can bite me. If it bites me, so it does. But I am not scared of it if I see it before it bites me. That's my point.
Wait, you check your clothes for spiders?

Who's scared now? :D

Major Malcontent

11-02-2009, 06:08 PM

My brother got bit by a brown recluse...they had to cut out a hunk of his leg all the way to the bone.

I tend to give harmless spiders a wide berth lest they turn out to be one of the 2 fairly bad kind.

nickb492

11-02-2009, 06:10 PM

Watched Arachnophobia when I was little and ever since then I've always been creeped out by spiders. And living in the country for the point being you see some big ass spiders not normally seen in the city too.

joesr

11-03-2009, 09:39 AM

:eek: A web!!! OMG!!!! Ewww get it off me!!! :rolleyes:

Yeah, NO. It's not scary. Yes, I have walked into one. Which one are we discussing here, a web, or a spider? Please.You're telling me you don't check clothes before putting them on :confused: ? Not to say I do that ALL the time, but at least I check my clothes and closet for spiders and such stuff, and we wash often. I can't let that happen, man. Yeah, it can bite me. If it bites me, so it does.

You have so what answers with a so what attitude. If it bites me it bites me.

Its not the web that is scary when you run into it. Its the fact that an unknown entity could still be on the web.

in reality I do not think any one here has arachnophobia. I think everyone is just worried about the post bite effect.

I'm not scared of bee's but I sure as hell know they hurt when you get stung. So I dont want to get stung.

I'm not scared of fire ants but you wont catch me standing on a ant hill.

Check clothes?? Dude now I know your just lying. Your telling me you turn your clothes inside out to check purposely for spiders...? When your about to sport your Rockets cap the first thing you think about is where the spider could be hiding inside of it? Cmon now, your making an answer for every little thing just to have an answer.

:mad:

SwoLy-D

11-03-2009, 10:35 AM

^ :D Just say you're not scared of the spider itself, but of it biting you. When you put on your clothes, are you in a dark closet or room? No. You SEE the clothes, not necessarily thinking "am I going to see a spider? I hope not!" but just looking at your clothes before you put them on. Underwear? Sure. Socks? Ok. But shirts and hats and such things as your Rockets' '94 Champs dark hat? Yeah, they could be hiding in there. But I don't necessarily get SCARED if I see one. If you noticed, I said I don't check ALL the time.

So it's a small creature that looks like it does a lot of damage. Yeah, I have a "so what" attitude. BECAUSE IT'S SMALLER THAN ME. If it bites me, it bites me, OK, but I am not scared of a spider on the wall, on my clothes, on the ground. I stomp the crap out of it. :o

Yonkers

11-03-2009, 12:00 PM

DonnyMost

11-03-2009, 12:09 PM

I saw brown recluse bite wounds as a kid, that pretty much ruined spiders for me forever.

SwoLy-D

11-03-2009, 12:09 PM

Um, no, sir, no phobia. I don't believe in GHOSTS, either. I do believe in Patrick Swayze inside Whoopi Goldberg, though. :o

I can tell you that I am a bit cautious outside my house in the dark of the night sometimes, for I can't see ALL AROUND ME. Cautious is not the same as scared.

There's an explanation for the woman hollering scenario, the creatures flying across the sky at night, and noises in places where people claim there are ghosts.

I am scared of a spider NONE, though.

aghast

11-03-2009, 01:22 PM

...I just don't think it has any logic. C'mon, now. :rolleyes:

I'd like to discuss WHY.
Potential lethality? The chance of severe necrosis from a spider bite? There aren't many poisonous spiders in the United States, but most of us aren't zoologists, and can't tell the harmless from the bad. Also, our childhoods taught us that any kind of insect bite is painful, and to be avoided. Spiders remind us of what it was to be young, and naive, and then get bitten; some of us prefer to keep that lesson learned.

...So it's a small creature that looks like it does a lot of damage. Yeah, I have a "so what" attitude. BECAUSE IT'S SMALLER THAN ME. If it bites me, it bites me, OK, but I am not scared of a spider on the wall, on my clothes, on the ground. I stomp the crap out of it. :o
A bullet is smaller than you, as is a mugger's knife. Yet I'm pretty frightened of each, and keep my distance if I know they're in the vicinity. An ampule of cyanide is smaller than you, but like a spider's venom will potentially kill you.

Smaller than me = not dangerous to me is not exactly a foolproof threat detection system.

CrazyDave

11-04-2009, 01:20 AM

As I posted in the other spider thread, I have a friend that's getting over a really bad spider bite right now. Not cool. She didn't see it, so doesn't know what, but it's a bad bite and this has been from two weeks ago.

We get bark scorpions all the time, and you do have to check your clothes and shoes and stuff. I mean, you don't have to, but...

So, if I see a spider across the room? Not afraid, but might wanna kill it/get rid of it just so I don't wonder where it's 8 legs are gonna take it while I'm sleeping. The thought that there might be a nasty spider or scorpion in my shoe or tshirt or something? Yeah, I concern myself with it... I don't know you'd call it fear, but I am a bit obsessive about it since I encounter about 10 scorpions a year in close quarters.

Dave_78

11-04-2009, 09:28 AM

At least you're not screamin' like a little elementary school girl, are you, Dave_78? :D

LOL No, I don't.

Actually, if the spider is very small or one that I don't think will bite me later I often leave them alone. If the spider is bigger and I suspect can give me a painful bite then I kill it. I do the same thing if I find a bee or wasp inside. No point in leaving something around that could be a danger later.

aghast

11-04-2009, 11:13 AM

Also, spiders threaten traditionally American chauvinistic ideals.

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ojDCmlhBhxw&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ojDCmlhBhxw&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

That's also why I am, subconsciously & consciously, terrified of seahorses.

JuanValdez

11-04-2009, 12:19 PM

I am not scared of a spider on the wall, on my clothes, on the ground. I stomp the crap out of it. :o

If you're not scared of it, why do you stomp the crap out of it? Stomping it indicates you are afraid of it.

My wife doesn't like bugs and will often ask me to kill spiders. But, I don't like killing spiders because they are good bugs -- they kill other bugs for me. So, if there is a spider in a place that bothers my wife, and I recognize it as a harmless one, I will pick it up and put it outside.

SwoLy-D

11-04-2009, 12:34 PM

If you're not scared of it, why do you stomp the crap out of it? Stomping it indicates you are afraid of it.:confused: I don't get it. I cannot stomp anything UNLESS I am afraid of it? Well, hot darn, let me talk to Webster's peeps and let them know to put that in the definition of "stomp". :p

I'm JuSt A SiCk KiLLeR, MaN! :mad:

joesr

11-19-2009, 09:02 AM

Yeah, I have a "so what" attitude. BECAUSE IT'S SMALLER THAN ME. If it bites me, it bites me, OK, but I am not scared of a spider on the wall, on my clothes, on the ground. I stomp the crap out of it. :o

Snakes can typically be smaller then you too.

Jellyfish. OMG. Definitely smaller then you but at certain beaches I was more worried about being stung by them then enjoying swimming. Smaller, check.

During low tides, some fishies would get stuck in certain 'pockets' of water. Once I saw a weird looking fish and my lolo (grandpa) tried to pick it up (I dont know if he was gonna eat it or throw it back in the water to go back into the ocean) but that damn thing puffed the hell up and poked him. Been scared of puffer fish's since. Those are smaller then you too.