Are you afraid of the wolf? Dogs? Or maybe a mouse? And you don’t really know why? “We have something inherent, something parents or society will teach us something,” the iReceptář lists in the podcast to the ear zoologist. Searching for the roots of their fear is worthwhile at any age. Because what you know, you are less afraid of it.
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Ugh, spider. . Whatever it doesn’t happen to me. Are these sentences familiar to you? As it would not, they pronounce them a large part of the population. And just by mouse, reptiles or various insect species, even according to the zoologist Markéta Janovcová are most often involved. “The fact that we are afraid of some animals is natural. It could have been a danger,” nodes natural scientists at Charles University, who examines the emotions that animals evoke in us. And it helps us understand, for example, the roots of fear of them.
We know from kindergarten
Of course, there can be many reasons. You may be afraid of having an unpleasant experience with the animal. Maybe a dog attacked you. You don’t even have to remember it, maybe you were quite small. Some concerns have been encoded in our heads since the ancestors and no one has to “teach us” them. “For example, it is fine for snakes. They are often dangerous and so we have encoded to avoid them,” says the expert.
But in any case, education is played. It affects us what we live in. Stories, fairy tales, education. Some of us then have a greater effect, someone is more resistant to them. “Parents teach us how we are going to the world and then we derive our feelings from it. But it does not always. “Young children are often afraid of other animals than big.” For example, young children scare the hornets or wasps, but they often have no problems with spiders. But in a few years, they often suddenly start to shield.
Change is life
“As we grow up, we build our own opinion and get a lot of information, so we can change our own view,” explains Markéta Janovcová. This is particularly important for animal protection. “Sometimes it is difficult to convince that we should protect an animal that is unpopular in a given place. Or local culture perceives it problematic. But this is the task and goal of our research. Changing their view and thus saving some endangered species.”
Just reach for
What can help with fear? There are several possibilities. “Often people are afraid because they don’t actually know the animal. They have never met it. And their concerns are some of his notions,” the expert describes. “We often see it in snakes. They think they are a slimy, but when they take it in their hand, they find that it is not a frightening beast.” He adds that contact with the real animal is often beneficial. The opportunity to get to know him, touch him, just get acquainted.
Nothing ridiculous
But a completely different situation, according to the zoologist, occurs when you have a phobia. Her research works is a phobics and knows so well what she is talking about. “When we invite them, we know that we have to watch what we are wearing. So that someone does not inadvertently a picture of a snake or spider. In this case, according to her, all fun should go aside. No forced, joking or persuasion. None of this is a journey for phobics. There is only an understanding and understanding that even if they are afraid, unfortunately they cannot do anything about it.
