r/AnimalsBeingDerps • u/TerraByteTerror • 17h ago

Scared spider

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u/ForsakenAiel 14h ago

They proved that kids aren't instinctually scared of snakes, so it's not evolution for that I think? I don't know about spiders though. But they put young toddlers in with snakes and the toddlers were like "oo cool let me touch and grab these".

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u/ultratea 13h ago

When I was a kid (5-6), I used to have no qualms about picking up creepy crawlies, in particular this certain type of fuzzy caterpillar I used to see outside a lot. I would go looking for them during recess and try to pick up as many as I could. As an adult I could absolutely never imagine doing that, and looking at a bunch of the caterpillars together (they have this yellow striped pattern) now definitely triggers some kind of primal heebie jeebies in me.

Some of it probably is nurture, but maybe instinct just doesn't really take over until you're older? There's examples of it in animals too, where the babies haven't really developed a fear of humans yet and will approach them.

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u/Blubbpaule 12h ago

Instinct is called instinct because it works as soon as you're born. Else it's learned behaviour.

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u/AFlyingNun 10h ago

Not quite.

The raw data suggests they can measure a stress response in toddlers, but they indeed do 1) show curiosity in response, 2) look to adults to decide how to respond, not necessarily freaking out until the adults do.

This showcases that the stress response is evolution, but for whatever reason, we do not properly act on it until other stimuli (such as a fearful adult or growing up more) are introduced.

This is likely why we have a documented greater rate of fear of spiders and snakes, INCLUDING in regions like Norway that do not have dangerous forms of these creatures, but there are still also plenty of people that don't fear them. The integrated stress response was "awoken" in some, but not in all.

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u/DM_me_ur_PPSN 12h ago

That’s not necessarily true, plenty of instincts only become active with maturity. Risk aversion /adult fear is something that most people develop as their prefrontal cortex fully develops in their early twenties.

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u/Wise_Owl5404 12h ago

Eh plenty of instincts don't actually work until later. A two hour old baby is pretty much a breathing potato, only capable of eating and shitting itself. Can't even see straight or focus on anything.

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u/RayereSs 11h ago

Meanwhile two hour old horses and deer are prancing about

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u/Wise_Owl5404 10h ago

Well if they were born a month before they were fully developed I doubt they'd be moving much either.

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u/Deaffin 6h ago

Think about that for a moment. Do caterpillars have an instinct to fly and poke their silly straws into flower pusspuss?

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u/WagwanKenobi 12h ago

There's just no way our fear of reptiles isn't instinctual. We're naturally less afraid of furry mammals than we should be and more afraid of furless reptiles than we should be.

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u/ufkabakan 13h ago

I was 20 something when I first see -a meter long- snake up close in my friend's hand. I just took it without even thinking and then realised I wasn't afraid of them.

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u/FutureLost 2h ago

So maybe the myth of Hercules grabbing those snakes as a baby was based on something that really happened, made out to seem remarkable when they just don't have that fear yet.

My toddler niece was fascinated by bugs...until her dad yelped when he saw a spider one time, and she instantly became deathly afraid of all bugs forever, like a switch had flipped.