Eli5 why are so many people afraid of Snakes, spiders, sharks, etc. When we have more dangerous daily things.
In: 0
most of these are natural threats we had to deal with, and our brains are hardwired to be cautious or wary of them.
Despite all of our current advances and advantages, humans were not “designed” to be the top of the food chain. Animals with venom, teeth, claws, etc. are natural threats to us, and there is still a part of our subconscious that knows that. Until we are taught otherwise, we are instinctively afraid of critters that can harm or even kill us.
All of Earth’s primates have an instinctive fear of snakes and spiders. 0ne theory is we can’t comprehend their complex movements or determine their intent through body language as they have almost none, and therefore we can’t predict exactly what threat they pose to us.
I’m not afraid of snakes existing in the world. I’m afraid of snakes in my immediate vicinity. Same with spiders. I don’t stay away at night having existential crises over the existence of spiders, but I still don’t want them in my bedroom.
Despite all our advances, we still carry our evolutionary instincts with us. These are hard to completely suppress, even if you bother to try.