“The slimy feel sends shiver down the spine!
Feels so yuck it must be a crime!
They crawl and they run!
Having the fear of bugs is no fun!”
In the novel specially written for children by Yuval called, The unstoppable us; he talks about fear!
He says how we need time to develop fear! That concept is another blog!
Now the moment we see a spider, we jump and panic while we do not have the same reaction on seeing a car! When in fact the average car or Motor Vehicle actually harms and kills more people than a poor spider!
But even spider is not the top of the list! That is another animal which gives chills to the average human on mere detection! In fact there is a theory which supports this!
read on!
There was this experiment in which a group of average normal individuals were given a series of images of animals. The initial images were blurred and subsequent ones were of varying degrees of increasing clarity!
The animal which most humans recognised at the earliest levels was consistent!
This animal is not only unique but also scary! It is exclusively carnivorous and has no mercy!
The cold blooded killer does not even have legs and actually swims on land!
Yes! The snake!
We have been primed to detect snake as early as possible which is maybe due to the fact that our ancestors have understood that it is a dangerous creature!
They have been programmed to avoid the snake at all costs! In fact they have been trying to keep a safe distance to the point of reverence! This is because they have an incredible rodent control capacity!
They would have realised that snakes are an important part of the ecosystem which is why there have been stories about snake and even their ‘magical’ skills!
I still remember when Sridevi’s Nagina came and that was one of the few movies with a sequel! There of course the snake is a celestial animal who had to change shape! We used to call it Icchadhari naag! There was even a superhero dedicated to snakes!
Who could also forget the two snake movies with multiple super stars both old and new who had a snake in the central storyline! One had Sunil Dutt in the lead while the other had Akshay Kumar!
Of course Shiv Ji is always shown with a snake so many used to worship them!
All said and done, the very first response to snakes is fear and if you do not fear snakes then we will fear you!
Once in school there was a program where a group of people who used to work with snakes came to our school with a group of them! Python, Cobras and so many! They spent couple of hours making us touch and hold some of the non venomous ones and telling how the venomous ones only bite when they are scared!
It really did not help when a snake bit one of the people from the group and then he had to be rushed to the hospital! Later we heard that he was in the ICU for several days and he did recover but I guess our (especially mine!) fear just got more strong!
So this theory called the snake detection theory also sometimes called the snake detection hypothesis, suggests that snakes have contributed to the evolution of primates’ visual system. According to the theory, predatory pressure from snakes has selected individuals who are better able to recognize them, improving their survival chances and therefore transferring such skill to their offspring.
From this point of view, snakes were responsible for the modification and expansion of primate visual systems which made vision the most developed sensory interface with the external environment for modern primates!
Surviving the peril of snakes for millions of years required selective pressure favoring primates’ specialized visual systems. Compared to that of other mammals, the pulvinar region of the brain – which helps to visually detect relevant objects – is disproportionately large and effective in the brains of primates (including humans).
Ophidiophobia (phobia of snakes) is one of the most common and intense phobias among the general population. It has also been reported that around 50% of people experience dreams about snakes! After reading this, the percentage may be more! I had a snake dream just this morning which resulted in this blog!
Snakes images have been experimentally demonstrated to be detected more rapidly compared to other fear-relevant stimuli: empirical evidences have shown that snakes are more rapidly detected compared to spiders; according to the snake detection theory this is because the arachnids were, historically, a less relevant threat to primates. Enhanced snake detection has also been found in young children!
Non-invasive electroencephalogram (EEG) studies have found an enhanced visual brain activity in response to images of snakes in humans! So it is better to keep your safe distance with snakes! Stick to your own Line of control or Border perhaps! Which of course reminds me of the birthday celebrity who directed these movies Jyoti Prakash Dutta! Border was one of the few movies which I went to see in the theatre in spite of a big exam the next day! The stress was too much and all we needed was a big dose of patriotism!
Now look out for Monsters under the bed and spiders on the roof and try not to dream about snakes and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!
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