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ophidophobia?
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by asud on May 12, 2009
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I just read a reasonably good book, SNAKES by Drake Stutesman. Some of the biology's pretty iffy, but it offers an exhaustive--really, the most comprehensive I've seen--agglomeration of serpent mythology over the millennia. At one point, she references (unnamed) 'scholarly' accounts of mankind's innate fear of snakes. Hmm...
All of us know folks who fear snakes. But does anyone here know of any formal studies of homo sapiens'--or other primates or horses or birds, etc.--fear of snakes?
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by SOLENOGLYPH on May 13, 2009
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I have seen a accounts of primates reaction to snakes on a nature shows. The comments were that some primate species had a unique warning call for snakes and then theorized that this may have been the precursor to speach with early homonids.
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RE: ophidophobia?
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by MikeB on May 13, 2009
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This is a subject that has always fascinated me. Just this week I encountered the fear . . . one co-worker was interested in knowing more about my corn snake so I popped him in a bag and brought him to work. Of the four people I work with, three expressed a fundamental fear of snakes, one going so far as to flee squealing from the room. There;s no denying that this phobia is broad and pervasive, which has always indicated to me that it has a foundation in evolution. What are two phobias found in people all over? Fear of heights and snakes. Where did pre-hominids evolve? In African rain forests. What were two threats encountered there? Falling and being eaten by predators, especially big snakes, if you were a small to mid-sized simian evolving binocular vision, grasping hands, etc. So it is hardly shocking that part of uor evolutionary baggage was once a useful adaption that promoted survival and reproduction. It's in the genes, along with territoriality and aggression.
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RE: ophidophobia?
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by earthguy on May 13, 2009
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I have read several papers on this topic...none of which I can remember off the top of my head. Most of them followed the same logig. Homonid evolution...danger...binocular vision = innate fear. My main issue with that is if the fear is hard wired, then it should be in infants as well. I don't have any hard numbers to support this, but in all the years that I have done snake talks, it is the children who are not afraid. I think that there is a hardwired component, but that most of the fear is learned.
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by Existential on May 13, 2009
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I must agree with earthguy here. I have seen grown men refuse to come within ten feet of a harmless ball python, while a two year old will gape in open fascination, and most likely reach out to touch the animal. I have seen babies in strollers react the same. Perhaps to a point, the fear is innate. I would say that nurture surpasses nature in this instant, based on personal experience.
It would be terribly interesting to see a proper study done on the reactions each age group have to serpents, taking into account other factors such as where they grew up (rural, suburban, etc), parents, and whatnot.
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RE: ophidophobia?
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by pitbulllady on May 13, 2009
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There have been recent studies that prove that human infants can recognize a snake out of a bunch of different photos of things, and react differently to the snake, but not NEGATIVELY to the snake. Chimps, on the other hand, even though reared in labs by humans, with no contact with snakes, or with older chimps who might have had contact with snakes, express absolute terror at the sight of one, even a poor rubber facsimile from a department store. Based on that, and my many years of conducting presentations with live snakes for various audiences, I can conclude that humans are probably born with an innate ability to LEARN to fear snakes, very easily, as infants are extremely perceptive to the reactions of older people, especially their parents, but that humans are not born being afraid of snakes, per se. If this was an instinct, it would be very difficult to overcome this. Behavior that is learned can be "un-learned", but behavior that is truly hard-wired into our genetic make-up from the get-go is much more difficult to overcome. The longer that a learned behavior is in place, the more difficult it is to change, which is why children are quick to overcome their fear of snakes, if they show any fear at all, while many older adults can only change that behavior if they really are dedicated to doing so, and most are not. If this really was instinctive, I would expect to encounter the same reactions in children as in adults, perhaps to an even greater extreme, since young children are more instinct-driven by nature and less governed by societal ethics, morals, etc. Their behavior is more "pure", in a manner of speaking, rather than cultural.
Perhaps an even more intriguing question, though, is this: are certain people born with a gene that causes them, from the start, to gravitate towards snakes and other reptiles, and cancels out that tendency to learn to fear those animals? I don't know how many of you can relate to this, but I do not ever recall actually being afraid of snakes. I knew that some could hurt or even kill me, but even at an early age, as a toddler, I sort of filed this fact away in the same place that knowing some dogs would hurt me, or horses would hurt me, was "stored", and I learned how to act with caution, but not fear. I can recall even as a toddler being absolutely fascinated with reptiles. This was certainly not learned behavior, as no one in my family shared that fascination, and most, in fact, were terrified of snakes and reacted with either an extreme flight response, or with violence, toward them. That was what I was exposed to, yet I never acquired that fear/hate. Even after an inevitable envenomation by a Copperhead at the age of nine, I never lost my love of snakes and other reptiles, so for me, at least, it's not a matter of getting over a fear to become a fan of snakes, or of being brought up by my parents or other adults to like them.
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by earthguy on May 13, 2009
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Sharon,
I doubt that there is a 'snake fascination' gene, per se. But I'd be willing to bet that there is a gene that can be linked to curiosity about nature. Gardner called it 'nature smart' in his multiple intelligences, and E.O. wilson referred to it as biophilia...but the fact of the matter is that some people 'connect' better to nature than do others. That would offer a keen Evolutionary advantage in early homonids who lived in nature. We tend to think in terms of snakes, but I know people who get just as excited about birds, lizards, turtles, mammals, even mollusks, worms, and fungi.
Spiders, sharks, snakes...it's all nature.
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by asud on May 13, 2009
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Wow. That's a lot to digest. A few follow up thoughts:
I've heard versions of the theory about early hominids on the veldt/in the rainforest, fearful of all sorts of things. But I gotta wonder: would snakes really figure all that prominently in a rich and crowded constellation of fears? Given our bipedalism/vertical stance, wouldn't we scan as impractical for even the hungriest python? All our vitals are pretty much out of reach most of the time, no? Given our diurnal ways coupled w/so many snakes being nocturnal, would we really have run into one another all that often? And when we did, well, given the percentage of dry bites and the even greater tendency of snakes to avoid confrontation, I'd imagine most encounters with venomous would end okay. Crocodiles, hippos, lions, elephants, baboons--one could go on and on--would be a far bigger consideration. Nobody's inherently phobic of them, are they? (Fearful, wary, sure. But not hateful.) Snakes can't really chase you down and are mainly interested in avoiding us. It seems to me like they would have been among the LEAST scary from a practical point of view. Picture it: early man sees a snake, he steps to the side. Early man sees any number of other beasts--even the non-carnivores--and he's done for.
Also, they're remarkably clean as animals go--no fur to get matted, shedding regularly, smooth to the touch--so why the icky, sticky, slimy misconception to boot? Is it all just from that bad rap in Genesis?
I really like Sharon's obverse question i.e., what is it that motivates the ophiophile? Which brings me to a third question--a sort of synthesis of the two--which is: why are snakes so very important? Looking over the world mythology--even the Sumerians, the South Pacific aboriginal myths, all that pre-Hebraic stuff-it's always, always, always the snake at the center. No animal--not the bird, not the turtle, none of them--even comes close (so far as I know) to snakes in terms of mythological prominence. Isn't this a little astonishing? Why does seemingly every culture's conception of 'the beginning' start with snakes?
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by Cro on May 14, 2009
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Adam, you bring up some interesting points. I also have wondered why a innate fear of "lions, tigers, and bears" does not exsist in primative peoples. And, as you mentioned, crocodiles and hippos also are responsible for many human deaths.
Perhaps the stealth of snakes is a contributing factor? The "unseen" death lurking, camouflaged in the grass? Or, perhaps the ability of snakes to enter dwelling places of humans also plays into the fear ?
After all, you can put up a fense to keep the lions out, but not the snakes.
It is likely that religous conditioning does play a big role in creating fear of snakes, however, just the "protective" nature of humans plays a role also.
Go to any park, and listen, and you will hear elder folks like granny (who the kids respect) saying things to the kids they are watching, like " don't go into that tall grass, or near that rock wall - there might be snakes." I think this type of conditioning of young children to fear snakes, even before those kids are old enough to remember being conditioned, plays a big part in the fear of snakes that those kids carry into adulthood. And they spread the fear to their own kids and grandkids. So, fear of snakes becomes a oral tradition that is perpetuated by the tribe.
Anyway, very interesting topic.
Best Regards
John Z
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by Varanoid on May 14, 2009
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There have been plenty of studies with other primates and prosimians where the captive reared animals had zero fear inantely of snakes...but were quick to learn the response by watching video of wild individuals...
I don't buy hardwired intrinsic fear of snakes...it is a learned response.
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