I disagree, because it makes light of the situation and supports their ‘joke.’ I say this as a great fan of wasps frequently seeing the ‘burn it to hell/nuke from orbit/nope’ responses.
I prefer the straight education route while pointing out the ignorance of the response. E.g. “That’s a really ignorant statement, subject_critters are actually amazingly diverse and interesting, here’s some facts about them:”…
The facts will generally include the point that most of these scary things are not at all scary unless threatened/injured, have XYZ positive environmental/societal/medical impact and can look like ABC.
I mean other than the irony of posting ‘Nope’ as an attempt at being cool/funny actually highlighting fear of a little creature…
3 Likes
I, too had a horrible response to spiders. I understand the “ going to jump out at me” fear, I had that,too. I am better now. Taking photos really helped. Even my kids would hand me a camera when one was found in the house. And now I can (and enjoy) photograph hand-held iPhotos with a macro lens snapped on. But still do not like surprises! Not only spiders, but startling by snakes is awful, too!
No opinion on social media, this is pretty much it for me.
2 Likes
I don’t care to eat either insects or mushrooms, but you are spot on with the future. If I was capable of work, I would check out raising either for others. I know there is a mushroom factory in Scottville MI.
1 Like
Is that a Cebrennus rechenbergi (Moroccan flic-flac spider)? It reminds me of a childhood activity friends and I came up with.
There was a whole hillside of Acacia redolens (Vanilla-scented Wattle), a popular commercial landscaping plant in Southern California.
We decided (being clever 8-11 year olds) that it would be fun to get into the fetal position and roll down on top of the wattle.
Except for being covered in pollen, definitely a fond memory 10/10. Not sure if it’s feasible for adults though…
Not sure if exposure, an open perspective, or neurodiversity play a part in being a “yep” rather than a “nope” person.
I came across an interesting idea somewhere about very visceral responses, like to snakes, being an evolved, reflexive module built into the brain.
I know I’ve experienced it bicycling and mistaking scrap electrical wire as a snake. It could also explain trypophobia: revulsion to clustered holes. Not using the wiki entry first because it has a picture of Nelumbo nucifera (Lotus), possibly triggering the phobia. Maybe it also explains how some cats react to cucumbers too (warning: not kind to cats).
1 Like
Cats are hypersensitive to their surroundings, so it’s the sudden appearance of a random object that has them spooked .
So - no - thank you, to memes of abused animals LOL.
Thanks, added a warning about the meme to reply.
2 Likes
Had not heard of Lucas the Spider. He’s cute (b/c of big eyes and short legs). But it has eyeballs that move–that creeps me out!! LOL I’ll give Lucas’ eyeballs a tongue in cheek NOPE!
Just spitballing with this but I have some thoughts that haven’t been brought up here.
I agree that the “Nope” response is most frequently performative, a way of trying to be funny to gain reactions from others, especially when it’s a sentiment that would be shared among their peers. So, most pictures of anything commonly thought as scary or gross are likely to get “Nope” responses for the sole purpose of gaining likes/reactions.
But I think we’ve sort of skirted around something that hasn’t been fully fleshed out in this thread. Many of these organisms are things that have visual cues that we have been biologically programmed to have responses to. On the flipside, rounded, fuzzy, and big eyes are often perceived as cute, think babies, ducklings, and is it any coincidence many find jumping spiders cute? Angular, slimy/slithery, and bright contrasting colors are perceived as scary/gross, think predators, snakes, and again is it any coincidence that many organisms utilize these characteristics to elicit or feign 'I’m scary", or “I’m nasty don’t eat me”? Think non-venomous caterpillars and frogs that use this as a defense mechanism.
For many of us on iNat our curiosity has conditioned us to overcome these fears. That with a little education we can find that the spider in our house poses no threat and is beneficial, which caterpillars and snakes are safe to approach/pick up, or that most wasps and bees don’t have a hidden agenda to sting you when you least expect it. The difference between here and other platforms is that we’re all nature nerds here, and so the average comfort level on iNat is much higher than other social media platforms. We’ve spent more time outdoors, researching and learning, and becoming informed. Some people aren’t as interested in nature and have other things that occupy their attention, and that’s OK. Hopefully, they’re informed enough to not senselessly kill things and catch that bug in their houses in a jar and let it go outdoors, but that might be a big ask. Everyone has their threshold, and as others have mentioned social media can be a means of educating if done properly bearing in mind their audience.
But, if you put me in front of a pit of snakes and ask if I want to jump in, I might just say “Nope”.
6 Likes
We have been taking loads of ivy for municipal composting.
Driving home on another day, out of the corner of my eye I see something pale sliding down. Glassy green Oxytate spider. Then running to and fro across the steering wheel. Hope he / she took the chance to return to the garden once we were back in our garage.
Some great stories and it shows you how much work still needs to be done to shift things away from auto-disgust and auto-kill.
I worked with another designer once who had strong arachniphobia. She knew I was a bit of a nature nut and admitted that she knew that they were not worth the reaction she always had to them. (Like if one showed up on her office desk!)
But then, one year she decided to go for her master degree (graphic design) and for the first assignment, which was a book design, she chose to do it on spiders. I was very supportive and found her some of the most beautiful books and collections on the subject and she began. We would discuss her choices and design elements but I was so pleased that she seemed to be relaxing into the project.
A few months later she told me that had received an A+ on her work AND that she no longer had any fear of the spiders after all that work and research.
I feel fortunate because as a child, my mother always told her seven children to NEVER kill a spider and that in the house they were ‘lucky’ and kept more unwelcome tiny house guests under control.
If ever there was proof that education and understanding makes a difference, there it is.
I also had another co-worker who had the rarer, ‘lepidopterophobia’ (fear of butterflies) but as far as I know, she never got over it.
Of course, most of the non-human world of fear-capable creatures have some form of anthropophobia.
Given the historical record, it’s easy to understand why.
5 Likes
Often, I feel that I could simply change the word “cats” to “humans,” based on some of the reactions I’ve seen. People seem to be afraid of anything that they aren’t used to.
5 Likes
Even in gardening and horticulture. Plant indigenous (or grow native, depending on your terminology.
Trying to encourage prairie plants instead of lawn? Nope.
https://www.monarchgard.com/thedeepmiddle/horticulture-as-colonizer-horticulture-as-liberator
2 Likes
“Nope” is just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve seen comments like “kill it with fire” and similar. It’s so rude! It’s still someone’s pet or a wildlife photo they worked hard to take, even others don’t like it.
You’re probably right that there’s a performative aspect to it, like a lot of behaviour on social media.
5 Likes