instincts
Posted by carmenmichelle on May 29, 2007 · Member since Apr 2005 · 233 posts
"natural" instinct(s)
i've gotten pretty good about if a spider or scorpion is crawling on my arm/leg to brush it off and be on my way, neither of us harmed.
but,
i was taking some boxes to my attic this morning, and an eight-legged friend jumped on my face/head!
i immediately swatted and swatted again, bringing harm to the arachnid
i had to "teach" myself to brush them off my arms/legs--before i went crazy too--because growing up, i always saw people around me freak out about these critters, so, i "learned" to, too.
but, is our instinc concerning movement an harm to our head/face more natural than learned (say from always seeing "mommy" scream at the sight of a spider?
or, no pun intended, is the "instinct" part of it all still in my head?
Interesting...I was thinking about this yesterday when a giant cockroach scurried across my bathroom floor (Arizona sucks...) and I freaked out. I have no problem with bugs, but wow, that cockroach just threw me for loop!
I'm pretty sure my fear of spiders and crickets is due to my brother throwing them at me when I was little. I'm a pathetic wuss when it comes to them.
I honestly can't tell you what I would do if a scorpion crawled on me. We don't have them here, and I really have never seen them except in that scene from Clash of the Titans where they were people-sized. So.....I think I would be pretty freaked out if I ever saw one.
I think there must be a biological element to our fears though.
Has anyone ever seen people on TV that are afraid of kittens and stuff? Are those people for real?
I think it probably has a lot to do with being startled, and then with the fact that some other living thing is sharing our body...it's not something we're used to, unlike some animals who have really direct symbiotic relationships with others.
Or this could just be balderdash.
All insects and spiders (including black widows) get moved outside, but if something came at my face, I think I'd be swatting before I even saw what is was. I think it's instinctual.
When I was a kid I played with a boy who would pretend like he was going to hit me. If he started at my stomach I was okay, but when he started towards my face I flinched every time (and then decked him). 8)
I fear I am not so gentle about spiders. I was bitten by a brown recluse a couple of years ago. I was sick for 2 solid weeks and had a gaping crater on my tailbone for nearly 3 months before it stopped weeping, dried up and fell off leaving a nickel sized scar for my trouble. I was NEVER scared of spiders of any kind until that bite. I won't say I am fearful, but I will say I feel like if it is going to bite me, it is not carefully brushed off and taken outside.
I am also terribly allergic to wasp and beestings so they get shooed if I can and slapped if I can't. If it is me or them, it is going to be them. I wish I were less afraid or less apt to be stung/bitten and I'd be nicer. I was before that bite and the hole in my arse.
I agree with what most others have said. I think that swatting when something comes at your face is part of the "fight or flight" reaction. That said...I KNOW I am terrified of snakes because of the way my mom used to freak out when I was a kid.
It's funny that you mention "training" yourself to brush critters off your arms and such. Last night at yoga, we practiced with the door open because it was really nice outside. Well, during savasana I ignored a tickle on my foot for a few seconds before finally looking down to see a cockroach crawling on my foot!!! I suppose I have "trained" myself not to freak out about something like that (and to be quiet during savasana), and did not scream or make a disturbance. I just kinda flung it off my foot and it scattered to the corner. But, I will say, I laid on the floor a bit more nervously until the practice was over. I do not dig cockroaches crawling on me.
I think part of it is conditioning... I was fine with spiders and would move them outside cupped in my hand until a friend was bitten (on her face no less) by some sort of spider and went through a whole lot of crap with the skin necrotizing and having to take meds to prevent the poison from doing any permanent damage.
But when something random lands on you it's def about instinct! A friend of mine came up to me once and pretended to slap me (she was just being silly and it was only a little pat on the cheek) but she surprised me and my automatic reaction was to slap her full force! :-\ I felt soooo bad the instant after I did it, but it was completely reflex.
I would say: Freaking out over bugs crawling on you (nonface)=conditioning. Freaking out over unexpected stuff in your face=instinct
Think about it: Hardly anyone minds if a pretty butterfly lands and crawls all over them--but people flip out if it was a harmless "creepy crawly"! Maybe in Farawayland where there are potentionally poisonous butterflies, people would freak out when they saw them.
When I lived in Germany, I noticed there was no "unclean, begone" feeling towards insects. If a fly was buzzing around your fruit, it could just go right ahead. And if a spider was chilling in your cupboard, you looked the other way.
I'm pretty sure my fear of spiders and crickets is due to my brother throwing them at me when I was little. I'm a pathetic wuss when it comes to them.
Sorry for dredging up this older thread...but I've been on vacation, out of the loop, and trying to catch up!
Apstaats, I think this is EXACTLY why I became afraid of spiders. My brother used to throw them on me, place them on me while I wasn't looking, or chase me while he held one in his hand. I was basically terrorized. :P
I'm pretty sure my fear of spiders and crickets is due to my brother throwing them at me when I was little. I'm a pathetic wuss when it comes to them.
Sorry for dredging up this older thread...but I've been on vacation, out of the loop, and trying to catch up!
Apstaats, I think this is EXACTLY why I became afraid of spiders. My brother used to throw them on me, place them on me while I wasn't looking, or chase me while he held one in his hand. I was basically terrorized. :P
And I'll bet that wasn't the only thing your brother did to terrorize you! My brother was not a bully, but he thought of some pretty clever ways to mentally torture me...
And I'll bet that wasn't the only thing your brother did to terrorize you! My brother was not a bully, but he thought of some pretty clever ways to mentally torture me...
You've no idea.
From the booger flinging... :P
to the hiding under the bed at night and grabbing my ankle (as I was ready to climb in) just to scare the daylights out of me... :o
to the wagon rides from hell... :D
to being called every name (moron, peahead, pinhead, nerd, bunghole, etc., etc.) under the sun until I was convinced maybe I really was stupid. ???
And then my personal favorite moment--getting shot in the leg with a BB gun while I was wearing shorts one summer. :'(
The list goes on...
The sad part is he was seven years older than me. I couldn't defend myself.
If there is a hell, he's going there.
He's going to be thrown into the worst circle of it. 8)
If you had to go through the same thing, I completely empathize! :(
He says that he now feels bad about the things that he did to me when we were kids.
A bit late for that now, eh?