Content
Why are people afraid of heights, darkness and spiders: the answer should be sought at the level of instincts
09.10.2024 17:05
The instinct of self-preservation can be called the most important mechanism that contributes to survival.
Fear, as a protective reaction, serves to prevent contact with possible environmental hazards and guarantees the safety and life of a person.
Fear of heights, darkness, snakes and spiders has deep roots in evolution and is associated with self-preservation instinct mechanisms that have evolved through natural selection to protect people from potential threats.
Acrophobia (fear of heights)
Falls from heights usually result in serious injury or even death, so people who are afraid of high places have a better chance of survival.
Nyctophobia (fear of the dark)
For primitive people, night is synonymous with the word “danger”, since in the dark human vision is impaired and predators do not sleep.
Odiophobia (fear of snakes) and arachnophobia (fear of spiders)
The danger of snakes and spiders is in their potential poisonousness. By the way, these fears have repeatedly become the subject of research, as a result of which it was established that people recognize images of snakes and spiders faster than other objects. This once again speaks of an innate neurobiological predisposition to avoid these threats.
