[britchard]

Why is it that even the most manly men are so scared of spiders? Maybe it's hard-wired.

[TheWastelander]

(10-22-2014 04:35 PM)britchard Wrote:  

Why is it that even the most manly men are so scared of spiders? Maybe it's hard-wired.

I think it is, but part of being a man is overcoming irrational levels of fear about stuff.

When I was a kid I was afraid of roaches. Roaches are nasty. They spread disease and are fucking gross. I overcame that irrational fear by forcing myself to be around them and learning to channel that natural reaction into anger. I replaced the childish flight response with a fight response. This is gonna sound goofy as hell and kinda dark but I started pretending I was Saddam Hussein with a can of Raid.

I still dislike them intensely but I'm not afraid of them. They're tiny and disgusting, but what can they really do to you?

They're worthy only of death and it is satisfying to kill them.

A couple of years ago I came upon a blurb about G. Gordon Liddy (who is infamous for his role in Watergate) and how he overcame his fears as a kid. I can't find the exact article but here is one that contains some of it:

http://www.people.com/people/archive/art...63,00.html

Quote:

As a boy, Liddy was terrified of the dirigibles that flew over his home, of heights, of moths, of the lashings his grandmother administered with a leather harness. "I was afraid of just about everything in this world, with the possible exception of my mother," he says, "and I wasn't too sure about her." His father was a physically and intellectually powerful man who worked his way from a job on the docks to a partnership in a patent and trademark law firm. Liddy's task was clear: "to change myself from a puny, fearful boy to a strong, fearless man."

One by one, Liddy confronted and defeated his fears. He was afraid of fire, so he repeatedly held his hand over a candle until the flesh burned black. He was afraid of rats, so he roasted and ate one. What does he fear now? "I don't fear anything now," Liddy states flatly. Not even death? "You get rid of the fear of death by understanding that it is an integral fact of our existence," Liddy explains. "You do that through will and reason."

Dude is hardcore.

[Sourcecode]

I don't understand the fear of Spiders...
The first thing that comes to my mind is...how would it taste with a peanut satay sauce...

All these men around here...scared of a spider...

[speakeasy]

I can only imagine the huge puddle of goo if you actually stomped on that thing.

[TheWastelander]

[LeBeau]

To the guys sending the hand and spider comparison pic to chicks, please post the screencaps of their reactions/replies for the benefit of your fellow forum members.

This could be a hilariously epic thread.

[kaotic]

(10-22-2014 07:04 PM)LeBeau Wrote:  

To the guys sending the hand and spider comparison pic to chicks, please post the screencaps of their reactions/replies for the benefit of your fellow forum members.

This could be a hilariously epic thread.

I did on page 1, but they're rolling in. I'll post some later when I have time.

[Slim Shady]

I hate all kinds of bugs. Tiny bugs - I'm afraid they are going to get into my holes [mainly nose or ear] and wreck shit in there internally.

I do not understand how you guys can eat crabs and lobsters. Crabs are essentially just spiders, and spiders are freaks of nature.

[TheSlayer]

(10-22-2014 06:12 PM)Sourcecode Wrote:  

I don't understand the fear of Spiders...
The first thing that comes to my mind is...how would it taste with a peanut satay sauce...

All these men around here...scared of a spider...

Not sure if serious....

[JWLZG]

(10-22-2014 06:12 PM)Sourcecode Wrote:  

I don't understand the fear of Spiders...
[...]
All these men around here...scared of a spider...

There's a theory about men being predisposed to fear spiders analogous to how women are as likely to fear mice.

Basically, it's an evolutionary throwback to their prehistoric societal roles, and the responses developed as a result of their encounters in their respective occupational habitats.

Which is a rather ironic explanation, because you'd think that each gender would've evolved to fear that opposite of what they'd be likely to encounter.

(10-22-2014 06:12 PM)Sourcecode Wrote:  

The first thing that comes to my mind is...how would it taste with a peanut satay sauce...

You'd be able to find out in Cambodia. Just make sure you don't take a bumpy bus ride in the hills straight after.

[Going strong]

I would adopt her, call her Serena, and walk her on a leash like a dog, in the street, to see people's faces

[urbannomad]

I saw some spiders in the Amazon. One day I recall t strolling around the lodge. I was walking toward the Forrest until this huge black tarantula start moving up a tree. I did about-face back to the lodge. Later that night my shaman starts showing me some the spiders in and around the lodge. I believe the creepiest was the tarantula. They come in through the roof and drop down like spiderman.. Here a video of a poisonous one in the lodge !

[Excelsior]

(10-22-2014 04:52 PM)TheWastelander Wrote:  

(10-22-2014 04:35 PM)britchard Wrote:  

Why is it that even the most manly men are so scared of spiders? Maybe it's hard-wired.

I think it is, but part of being a man is overcoming irrational levels of fear about stuff.

When I was a kid I was afraid of roaches. Roaches are nasty. They spread disease and are fucking gross. I overcame that irrational fear by forcing myself to be around them and learning to channel that natural reaction into anger. I replaced the childish flight response with a fight response. This is gonna sound goofy as hell and kinda dark but I started pretending I was Saddam Hussein with a can of Raid.

This is actually exactly what I've done. I've always had serious roach-phobia, but have been fortunate enough to live in parts of the Northeast (relatively rural) where there simply didn't exist. This past summer I lived in NYC with my relatives. They've got a nice place but, it being NYC, roaches were a fact of life. They only appeared in the kitchen and only at night (almost never saw them anywhere else in the house at any other time), but they came in numbers when they did.

I made a habit of keeping a can of raid by the kitchen entrance and coming in later at night after the lights had been out for a while, just before bed time. I'd creep up to the door, grab the raid, flip on the light and go to town. Usually was able to catch about a dozen roaches at a time - after a while, they actually became less common when I came in I'd killed off so many. I even managed to kill a couple of them while they were mating.

Raid gives roaches a very painful death - once the spray hits them they pretty much go crazy, flipping about and flailing around wildly for a second or two before suddenly losing life. It is an immensely painful way to go, and I loved to watch it each and every time. I took immense pleasure in building up the roach body count every night.

I can't say that my fear of roaches is gone at all, but I took major steps this summer by taking the precise approach advocated here: morphing my fear into an anger, and using it to generate a more focused, organized response (essentially declaring war on the little bastards). Not only is this the more pragmatic approach, it is empowering - once you complete this process and undermine your fear of the things, you remove the control they have over you and also begin to realize how much control you have over them (they really can't hurt you, but you can send them all to miserable deaths). It feels good.

Still a long way to go, though. Those roaches in NYC were just little guys, of the tiny North American/European species' common to the region. A spider this size would give me serious issues, larger tropical cockroaches still bug me (especially when they fly around), and I still have a big problem with centipedes.

One fear at a time, I guess.

[Samseau]

Yeah, I'm not sure what guys experience with these nasty insects and bugs. For me, the fight instinct kicks in every time. I'll kill nasty shit for days.

However, I like these big spiders and I think they are cool. If they have friendly personalities I'd let them live, but if they are aggressive then of course they die.

[Billy Chubbs]

I freely admit I'm scared of spiders and snakes. Those fuckers are quiet as hell and even though I live in Canada, which has very few poisonous species of either, I'm paranoid as hell of being bite and poisoned. At least with wolves and bears you can usually hear or see them coming. Spiders and those other stealthy fuckers? You just accidentally step or sit or reach into the wrong place...BOOM! Suddenly half your arm is necrotized (I wouldn't recommend googling necrosis).

Fuck spiders. They just bite, poison you and scurry away. Spiders are the feminists of the animal kingdom.

[TonySandos]

My only phobia is arachnophobia. I've handle a North American tarantula before, but I wouldn't do it again. It was simply for the experience if knowing what it felt like. I'd never touch a hairless spider of any stripe.

I've beaten heights and claustrophobia in comparison. I don't have any desire to stop hating spiders.

[speakeasy]

What do you guys think of jumping spiders? I don't think they're scary looking at all, they are even dare I say...cute.



I like when I find one, because jumping spiders have the most personality out of any type of spiders. They are actually curious and have excellent vision. If you move your finger near it, it will turn around and watch it and follow the motion of your finger. My friend calls them kittens with 8 legs because of their curious behavior.

I even read an article that scientists demonstrated that jumping spiders find humans fascinating and like to watch us.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/insect...121016.htm

[iamdegaussed]

I used to have intense, intense arachnophobia. I don't like them still, but I have a much more relaxed view of spiders especially if they're not bothering me. The way I did it is by realizing that no matter what harm they can cause me (hospital visit even for the complete worst), I can cause them so much worse.

I can't fucking stand wasps and other flying stinging shit though. They're the worst.

[Excelsior]

(10-25-2014 12:02 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  

What do you guys think of jumping spiders? I don't think they're scary looking at all, they are even dare I say...cute.

Those little guys don't bother me. I actually agree that they're kind of cute. They're at the center of a lot of the "SpiderBro" memes (which center on the portrayal of little spiders as friends, not enemies).

[LaCobra]

A cellar spider just moved the other day right next to the desk. There are no more mosquitoes since then in this humid sweaty stinking piece of shit summer we are having right now.

Sometimes i ruin some of the web on purpose just to see the little guy work.

[Engineer]

Classic youtube, Spiders on Drugs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc

[Vitriol]

(10-23-2014 01:04 AM)Excelsior Wrote:  

I made a habit of keeping a can of raid by the kitchen entrance and coming in later at night after the lights had been out for a while, just before bed time. I'd creep up to the door, grab the raid, flip on the light and go to town. Usually was able to catch about a dozen roaches at a time - after a while, they actually became less common when I came in I'd killed off so many. I even managed to kill a couple of them while they were mating.

Raid gives roaches a very painful death - once the spray hits them they pretty much go crazy, flipping about and flailing around wildly for a second or two before suddenly losing life. It is an immensely painful way to go, and I loved to watch it each and every time. I took immense pleasure in building up the roach body count every night.

The last few months I was living in a small apartment as a student I developed a roach problem, no idea how it happened. That being said, I kept the flashlight and raid right between the bedroom and kitchen (only used the flashlight to get the jump on them, didn't actually turn the lights on) and it was like some real life first person shooter Doom shit. When I was studying for finals 10+ hours a day, this was my entertainment.

The big ones do flip over and start twitching and shit for a long time, you really do watch them go out in pain.

[Mekorig]

(10-25-2014 02:00 PM)LaCobra Wrote:  

A cellar spider just moved the other day right next to the desk. There are no more mosquitoes since then in this humid sweaty stinking piece of shit summer we are having right now.

Sometimes i ruin some of the web on purpose just to see the little guy work.

The little 8-legged friends are really useful, specially in summer. BA can get really humid, and lately the mosquitos are getting HUGE.

[TigerMandingo]

In South Florida, I had a cat that would hunt lizards and bring the prize back home. Also helped out with roaches and spiders. Miss that little bastard..