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Vol.
28 No. 4
July-August 2006
The
Irrationality of Being Fear of All Snakes, Spiders,
. . . and Chemicals
by
David A. Evans
I
admit to being terrified of snakes, even when I recognize
a nonpoisonous species. My daughter will not enter a room
if she suspects the presence of a spidereven though
she knows that there are no harmful spiders in the UK where
we live. We are both scientists, but to be provided with any
amount of profound and convincing evidence that these species
are benign does not remove our fear. It is not a matter of
trust, it is simply an irrational response. But knowledge
does helpwe do not kill these species and we recognize
their beneficial role in their environment.
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last modified 26 July 2006.
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