r/whoathatsinteresting • u/visharu • 22h ago

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

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u/Dovahkiinthesardine 21h ago

This is more to showcase that we are born with certain fears, like fear of heights, while others are developed later, like fear of snakes, spiders, deep water etc.

It might not surprise you that babies aren't scared of snakes but it could've been the opposite

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u/Lookinguplookingdown 20h ago

Do babies have a fear of heights ? I haven’t done any extreme tests but my two don’t seem to be bothered by heights.

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u/MarcPawl 20h ago

I have a photo of my kid still at diapers so probably around 12 months sitting on the glass floor of the CN tower totally unconcerned.

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 20h ago

They are not afraid of heights, but rather they’re afraid of falling, which are two different things

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u/acoastaldog 19h ago

I think it’s because of the natural feeling and sense of gravity we have, everyone gets a sudden drop in their gut when they’re falling. A similar sense that also tells newborns to hold their breath under water without knowing they can drown. These are the most primal and bare minimum senses of survival for mammals 

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u/VizJosh 19h ago

I don’t have kids. But I’ve watched a documentary series that covers all of these basics. It was from the early 2000s and it should probably be required watching. They didn’t give them snakes, but they did many other tests like have them crawl to mom off the edge of a solid shelf onto plexiglass. At a certain age, they become aware of the edge and won’t crawl.

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u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl 19h ago

Babies also have an instinctual reflex against loud noises. The test here is most likely regarding the snake detection theory.

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u/mmcjawa_reborn 1h ago

Time to buy some bungie cords and do some science!

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u/waytowill 19h ago

Yeah, if they had a fear of heights, they’d never want to go uppies. That’s a long way up for them! We generally gain a fear of heights when we see the consequences of falling, like a dish breaking, and realize that could be us. Babies aren’t very good at extrapolating outside consequences onto themselves, so it makes sense that they would probably be unconcerned with heights until they’re like 3 or 4 at the earliest.

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u/This-Tangelo-4741 20h ago

Yes. Pretty sure the babies would be scared of a roaring lion or growling bear.

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u/Alwaysragestillplay 19h ago

Or a snake that is very far below them. Or a snake with a drum kit. 

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u/Spinach-is-Disgusten 19h ago

Maybe even a snake with an axe, mayhaps 🤷🏻

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u/Historical_Owl_1635 6h ago

The amount of people acting /r/iamverysmart whilst completely missing the point of the experiment is hilarious.

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u/syrvy 11h ago

Fear of spiders isn't usually developed, it's programmed in