Why are people scared of spiders?

[FluffyMcDeath]

KennyR wrote:
Well, not all are, but many are. So many in fact, that to me it seems to be an instinctive response.

Most spiders can't kill you. Many snakes can't either. On the other hand, some can so why would you want to take a chance of getting killed while you sit around trying to figure out which is which? Any instictive fear of these things will help you stay alive.

Now, the deadliness of snakes and spiders proll'y increases as you get smaller, and there are more deadly spiders in some areas of the world versus others. That's the way it is now, and that's likely the way it has always been though the places with the deadliest spiders then may be different from now.

So, why do you stop at asking the question with respect to humans? Spiders have been around much longer than humans have been. This instinct has probably been around far longer than humans have been too.

[FluffyMcDeath]

KennyR wrote:

And there is the matter of cats, the number one numero uno killer of Mankind's ancestors.

Cats aren't generally venemous. The danger posed by a cat is mostly size dependant. This is not the case with spiders.

[FluffyMcDeath]

that_punk_guy wrote:

Thinking about it rationally, I'd much rather have spiders than flies.

Instincts aren't strictly rational. They tend to be heavily stereotypical, but on average they make sense.

[FluffyMcDeath]

-D- wrote:
I'm not so sure fear of spiders stems from anything other than their strange appearance,
coupled with the warnings/stories from adults we hear as children.

I think loss of fear of spiders is probably conditioned. As we learn to distinguish between which spiders are OK and which are not. However, if we are surprised by a spider or any crawly thing such as when we suddenly find one unexpectedly on our faces then we have an instinctive response that is quite strong, rather than a more rational and considered response.

Plus something else I just realized is that most very young (like under 5) children will pick up, play
with and sometimes even eat spiders..

There is plasticity in behaviour, but there are also developmental stages as well. I read somewhere of a study of the fear of heights in which babies were placed near a high edge where the drop itself was covered with strong glass so that you could walk across. The babies would not crawl over this edge, but they would occassionally turn around and back over it.