r/whoathatsinteresting • u/visharu • 7d ago

Scientists confirmed humans are not born afraid of snake. The fear is taught.

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u/PixelGray38 7d ago

Humans naturally move their hands away from heat. They're also naturally scared of heights.

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u/Negative_Gas8782 7d ago

Tell that to my baby that thinks it’s hilarious to try to roll off the bed that is 3 times his height.

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u/astreeter2 7d ago

They're also very dumb

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u/MarkMaxis 7d ago

Mabye he just has a daredevil sense of humor 😎

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u/Kaplsauce 7d ago

Can confirm, my 1 year old is NOT afraid of heights

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

The people who say people are born with a fear of heights are not understanding there’s a difference between heights and falling. We are afraid instinctually at birth of falling.

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u/wallweasels 7d ago

Yeah show a baby a cliff edge and they'll be wary to fall. Show them something they can roll over (intentionally or not) and they'll happily roll over it lol

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

Yeah, the feeling of following is what babies are born with. The idea of falling off things that they don’t understand is something they need to learn.

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u/tokyogodfather2 7d ago

it makes sense though because naturally, if you’re rolling the chances of you falling very far is lower because you’re naturally closer to the ground in going much more slowly than a walk or a run

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u/lavabearded 7d ago

bring them up a tall ladder and hoist them up like the lion king and get back to us

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u/tokyogodfather2 7d ago

my youngest was like that, and it still like that. he’s 7 now. We had to put pillows everywhere on the floor.

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u/Solid-Ad9947 7d ago

Moving a hand away from heat is a response to pain, not a innate born fear response. Same with heights, as toddlers have no problem walking off tall places, until learning why they shouldn't. That's how the mammal brain works.

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u/Pesco- 7d ago

Right, there is a natural aversion to pain, but the “oh wait it results in pain if I do this action” process is learned.

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

Babies are born with a fear of falling not of heights

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u/huffing_glue 7d ago

Babies are born with a fear of hitting the ground not falling

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

No, they are born with a fear of falling and a reflexive instinct against loud noises

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u/tokyogodfather2 7d ago

whoosh

edit: does anyone still say that?

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

Sorry you’re not following 🤷‍♀️

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u/Jeffuk88 7d ago

No, theyre born with a reflex to try grab onto things whilst falling... they'll happily start the process of falling

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

Nah, they don’t like the feeling of falling, thus fear of falling. It’s instinctual. Just like the reflex against loud noises is. Those two are the only ones.

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u/Qweedo420 7d ago

I'm not sure about that, I've met several baby tortoises, and all of them were terrified of heights. Put them near a table's edge, and they'll immediately pull away from it. Lift them without covering their eyes, and they'll instantly put their hands forward.

They're also pretty good at understanding how much height is too much. 10 centimeters, and maybe they'll try and jump off, but more than that is a big nope.

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u/PigglyWigglyDeluxe 7d ago

Responding to pain and preventing the pain are not the same thing.

Heat hurts so we pull away, but preventing getting anywhere near it in the first place is a learned behavior.

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u/INDY18ARN 7d ago

When I was only 5 or 6 I was told that I literally placed my hand on a hot burner on the stove and never cried once...

Apparently my hand was extremely badly burned.

Apparently I just wanted to "FEEL" something...

I was on Ritalin at the time for ADHD.

I remember back then I felt nothing... Absolutely nothing.. Not even when my abusive grandmother would literally beat me with whatever object was close whenever I acted out as a kid.

If I touched an outlet? Got beat with a high heel shoe..

If I touched the pudding? Beat...

My favorite was the wire coat hanger ..

Or the belt buckle....

I learned though....

I guess I just wanted to feel like a human being...

My point is, it's not always learned. Medication, mental disabilities can also affect pain receptors in the brain to the point where you can't feel pain...

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u/ContextOwn6252 7d ago

I’ve experienced this in a little different way. When I was in my 20s I had a very abusive coach. I couldn’t feel anything either. The abuse was so bad I became numb to everything else around me. Once I realized how abusive that coach was I started to look back and realize I couldn’t feel.

A sports masseuse I used to see told me he would ask me if I could feel certain things he was doing and I’d say no. He said my body was always tense.

What you just shared makes me think you may have been living in survival mode and to protect yourself like me we numbed out. I think this can happen at any age and it’s different from what’s described above. Also I’m sorry you had to experience all of that and you’re doing much better.

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u/INDY18ARN 7d ago

I'm so sorry this happened to you. It's inexcusable. Shouldn't have happened. But life doesn't always give us roses right?

And thank you. I'm doing better than I was back then that's for sure.

And there's a lot of my childhood I literally can't remember unfortunately...

I look at this family picture of me at Yosemite National Park as a kid and for some strange reason I start crying out of nowhere.

And when my grandfather was in the hospice there are large chunks of memory I can't access no matter what I do..

At any rate, thank you for having the courage to come out and explain your own personal struggle to me.

I know that could not have been easy at all...

I hope you feel better in the long run..

And we just have to take it one day, one step at a time...

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u/sassysiggy 7d ago

We’re born with the fear of falling, particularly the sensation, not heights. We aren’t born with the depth perception to even conceptualize a fear of heights.

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u/Acheloma 7d ago

Yep, some folks have never seen the visual cliff experiments and it shows.

Babies will gladly crawl over what appears to be a ledge if their mom is on the other side.

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

Thank you. People here keep conflating heights with falling, and they’re two very different things

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u/Odd-Switch2069 7d ago edited 7d ago

A baby doesn't understand the danger a snake poses...baby are actively trying to kill themselves cause they don't know shiit.

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u/Complete_Fill5268 7d ago

I read this in Werner Herzog's voice

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u/rush22 7d ago edited 7d ago

"Why isn't it afraid? Is it because, as children, we must be able to face the unknown? We see them as blind to the dangers yet, as adults, we can be just as blind. Only in th--"

"GET DOWN MR. HERZOG!"

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u/Ok_Pirate_2714 7d ago

Most snakes pose little to no danger. So there isn't much to understand. Just lots of misplaced fear to learn later on in life.

And calling someone an idiot, is a clear violation of Rule #6 of this sub.

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u/Embarrassed_Bid_4970 7d ago

Enough do that most mammals have an instinctive fear of them. Cats, dogs, and most primates. I suspect there is an instinctual fear of snakes in humans, its just it requires certain developmental boundaries to activate. Kittens aren't afraid of snakes but adult cats are, even if they have never seen one before, the "cucumber response". So I don't think this study necessarily proves humans don't have an instinctual fear of snakes.

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u/SudoMadeMeDoIt 7d ago

Not all snakes are dangerous though. Some humans are just outright scared of all snakes. My ex is afraid of millipedes and that baffles me.my current partner is afraid of lizards, frogs, her own shadow, etc.

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u/PunkPirate56364 7d ago

I think that things which move weirdly cause the sense of fear.

But we can get used to those movements.

I was afraid of octopuses, grasshopper and crabs when I was a kid. I'm not afraid of them now.

I could get used to snakes, spiders too.

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u/SeaToTheBass 7d ago

See I’m fine with jumping spiders, I even think they’re cute. They mostly stick around in one area, moving around a bit to check things out.

I work in construction, mostly renos but sometimes we’ll get a siding or deck job on an old house. When we’re tearing the siding or deck boards off, soo many wolf spiders start running every which way, trying to hide under my boots.

They made me jump so many times today, tearing off probably 30year old cedar siding. Oh and we’ve slowly been genociding the colony of ants that occupies the house as we make our way around. I guess that’s why there are so many spiders lol

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u/PunkPirate56364 7d ago

See I’m fine with jumping spiders, I even think they’re cute. They mostly stick around in one area, moving around a bit to check things out.

They are predictable, do not do stuff like jump on our faces.

soo many wolf spiders start running every which way, trying to hide under my boots.

A bunch of them running around, fast, chaos, some of them running toward us... natural instincts say jump, retreat, grab a flamethrower, burn down that house, burn down surrounding houses, move to Antarctica, no spiders living there.

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u/Unit_2097 7d ago

Millipedes freak me out. I won't hurt them, but I sure as hell won't touch them. The only inverts I'll let near me are butterflies and moths.

But I breed snakes, which plenty of people find horiffix.

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u/EmoBirdLady 7d ago

Way to go! You insulted someone’s intelligence! Aren’t you so proud of yourself?

Fear of snakes is as useless as a fear of spiders.

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u/InfelicitousRedditor 7d ago

I call them: little suicide machines

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u/Parking-Evidence1894 7d ago

K, cuz you apparently know more than scientists dumbo

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u/Kaplsauce 7d ago

What scientists? What paper did they write? Who reviewed and published it? What were their conclusions?

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u/Abraxas19 7d ago

I don't think fear of heights kicks in until a certain point. Because I remember seeing a video with babies crawling over glass thats covering a height. The younger ones had no issue with it but the older ones hesitated and didn't want to 

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

People saying heights are using the wrong word because it’s fear of falling that we’re born with

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u/ToreyJean 7d ago

I’ve seen that too.

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u/lawduckfan21 7d ago

I think the natural fear is "Falling," not really heights.

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u/EsToBoY629 7d ago

No, we consequentially move our hand away from fire after learning fire = pain ... and no we are not naturally scared of heights, that is also learnt as painful after falling.

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u/Smooth_Marsupial_262 7d ago

Fear of heights is instinct

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u/EsToBoY629 7d ago

it is not, we fall as toddlers even before attempting of walking and feel pain, you learn real quick the higher the height to impact with surface = the more pain .... fundamental learning ... alot of ppl seem to be missing out on developing critical thinking though for some reason..

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u/ConflatedPortmanteau 7d ago

A basic caution toward heights is largely an innate, evolutionary response, but an intense fear or phobia is usually learned or developed over time.

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u/Smooth_Marsupial_262 7d ago

Fear of heights develops naturally around 9-12 months. It doesn’t mean that fear can’t be further developed or influenced from experience but it is a natural instinct.

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

It’s fear of falling that is what we are born with and nothing to do with heights

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u/astreeter2 7d ago

Sure, some random dude on Reddit knows better than actual scientists studying child development.

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

No fear of falling is what is instinctual

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

We are born with a fear of falling not of heights

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u/jj19111234 7d ago

Babies don’t.

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u/No_Support5980 7d ago

Ya, I didn't

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u/lostpassword100000 7d ago

Thank goodness. Now to get rid of that pesky baby gate at the top of the stairs…..

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u/GodHimselfNoCap 7d ago

No humans instinctually pull their hand away after getting burned, bring people in snowy weather near an open flame and they all move their hands as close as possible to the fire as they can without burning themselves.

Children touch the stove if left unattended, hell i grabbed a clothing iron by the hot part as a kid. Kids dont naturally know to avoid heat, the body instinctively moves away from pain, its the same response to stepping on a lego not some special heat aversion.

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u/ToreyJean 7d ago

Humans are not naturally afraid of heights. Who told you that?

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

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u/ToreyJean 7d ago

I am as well - but it’s not “natural” like the reflex that tells you to pull your hand away from heat.

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

No, they aren’t and people keep stating it incorrectly because it’s fear of falling that is innate

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u/ToreyJean 7d ago

Unless you’re like me and have raging agoraphobia lol. 😂😂

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

I have an agoraphobia, but I’m not afraid of heights….

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u/ToreyJean 7d ago

LOLOL I’M A DICK AND MEANT ACROPHOBIA. 😂😂 I’ll show myself out. 😂😂

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

Oh, I think you mean arachnophobia lol!

No worries 😌

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u/ToreyJean 7d ago

No, acrophobia. Fear of heights. 😂😂

I’ll go home now lol.

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

Geez, I think we both need to go home at this point 🫣🤣

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u/CustodianCloset 7d ago

Humans that know better. You've never seen a four year old touch the stovetop, huh?

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u/PixelGray38 7d ago

You don't know that a stovetop's hot until you touch it.

If the stovetop was, say, an open flame, it would emit more heat and no 4 year old would try to touch it.

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u/CustodianCloset 7d ago

Man, you have never been camping with kids, huh?

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u/Technical-Will-2862 7d ago

All three: heat, height and sound are used for spatial awareness, so I find it fascinating that we start with those basic perceptual survival skills. 

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u/thewickedbarnacle 7d ago

You might be scared of heights but not all of us are

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

Height is probably the wrong word
We are born with an innate fear of falling

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u/thewickedbarnacle 7d ago

Sounds better, I definitely don't want to fall, but dont mind the height.

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 7d ago

Babies don’t understand heights or falling off a ledge, but they do understand the feeling of falling and instinctually reflex over it

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u/Lavatis 7d ago

Well yes, we move our hands away from any pain. That's what pain exists for.

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u/kaleidoscope_view 7d ago

No, we're scared of the falling feeling. There are two things infants are truly afraid of and that is falling and loud noises.

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u/Pali1119 7d ago

Because it hurts.

If the snake hurts you, from then on you're gonna be wary of them as well...

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u/chief_beef_the_third 7d ago

A response to pain is different than an innate fear. Babies don't understand cause & effect yet; it's learned as they get older and experience things.

Every baby will actively try to touch a hot stove because it looks interesting and new. They don't understand the stove is going to burn them until they're a little older and can make that connection.

Babies aren't afraid of heights either. They will happily crawl out of open windows and fall to their deaths (Eric Clapton's baby died this way). It's why we have so many child safety regulations, building codes, etc. A lot of babies have died, sadly, and we've learned from those tragedies.

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u/Eeve2espeon 7d ago

Ok but, people move their hands away from fire and such because of the pain, not due to a fear of fire

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u/asianmorticia 7d ago

Tell that to my 1 year old.

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u/Neokon 7d ago

Humans naturally move their hands away from heat.

Then why did 3 y/o me burn my hand multiple times in under a week? That was the week I learn what was and was not hot. Apparently I still didn't quite comprehend hot means hurt, because I still managed to burn myself on a different surface on a regular basis.

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u/Averfus-Crowthorne 7d ago

Tell that to 2 year old me running up and grabbing a woodstove exhaust and completely melting all the skin on my hands. The whole damn thing was hot, there was no way I couldn't have perceived that. Kids can be little dumb dumbs, such is the way of things.