RE: UNREALISTIC FEARS vs SCIENCE
@analogmunky I would have to agree with that in the sense that, yes, we are programmed via the long long timeline of evolution to be fearful of those creatures, amongst many many other things... I think the challenge is in recognizing our own ability to recognize, analyze and bypass those fears compared to the scope of rapid advancement, far surpassing any "normal" long-term scope of evolution.. Technology has and is and will leave the majority of evolutionary comparison arguments completely mute. If you know that it's genetic as the result of evolution, then why do you choose to still be, or sympathize with anyone still playing victim to those fears. Perhaps our roll in the next step of evolution is to recognize, take responsibility for, and abolish the fears that uneducated survival have engraved in us . Education, at this point in our history, far surpasses engraved genetic predispositions, especially the petty small ones like fear. it's ALL A MATTER OF RESPONSIBILITY AND RECOGNITION. We're not victims of anything. Especially our own predisposed, genetically engrained fears. Calling anyone a pussy for anything is silly.. The comparison just doesn't fit much at all. Calling someone a pussy, in the scope of evolution should in fact be a compliment. But who am I to say, I'm scared of failure.. And yes... Still be careful around snakes. Use your head.. Watch some Steve Erwin, he's still livin strong handlin all kinds of... Oh wait, shit, no, sorry.
+1
The irony is, it was a less aggressive and not generally dangerous animal that got him. I guess he wasnt scared because he had the knowledge of what was dangerous in what way and how to handle it. Most people dont have that knowledge so yeah, Im all up for pussying out :)
I've admired, caught, handled, fed,and loved snakes and reptiles my whole life. Everyone, a little zen master.
muchos respect dude :)
I like holding snakes and such, Im not afraid of any animal type, apart from spiders a little, but even then I have a house full of various kinds of house spiders (and not surprisingly a lack of flies). Still, Iv not handled dangerous or huge types of reptiles at all, it would likely make me uncomfortable and feel the fear if I knew it could take me out (and not to dinner either).
That's wonderfully honest. Agreed.
Some critters you just don't want on your person and in hindsight I realize my love and subsequent lack of fear of snakes and whatnot was and is a learned response.
I don't recall ever being naturally afraid of them but I've certainly been freaked out by them catching me off guard. One beautiful Mojave rattlesnake in Joshua Tree in particular. There certainly is an auto-response there. A spider on your hand that you didn't invite to hang out there is awful difficult to not spaz and instantly fling away for sure.
Any potentially deadly creature no matter the size, reptiles in this case, require hi-level awareness and caution and are best avoided for all parties concerned if possible and handling them safely requires well learned skills (or complete and total innocent naiveté in rare cases) including knowing your own fear and aggression signals and behavior and their opposites. As well as the critter you're dealing with. I had the pleasure of getting to grow up catching, feeding and playing with and releasing countless lizards and snakes, tarantulas, birds, fish, frogs, bees, bugs, and stray cats and dogs by the score. I was taught great respect for all life along with great caution for any and all that has or may have the potential to inflict harm.
But always with the knowledge and awareness that potentially I (man) am almost always the most dangerous animal out there.
Sometimes I lose sight of that and I make snap judgments that are totally undeserved, senseless and downright uncool. Me posting a derogatory comment too, or about someone because they expressed a fear is most definitely one of those times.
I'm humbled by this conversation,
thanks @analogmunky. Have a good day.
No buddy, I am humbled by your knowledge and its awesome to see someone who takes time to think about this kind of stuff from many angles.