This always makes me think. Cockroaches don’t bite, are not venomous, basically can’t do us any harm. I’m not afraid of wild dogs, spiders, tarantulas, scorpions, snakes, wolves, hyenas, wild hogs, bears (encountered them all) but I might actually scream if I get surprised by a cockroach.
I think this collective fear of cockroaches that we have cannot be without reason and must have an evolutionary reason.
Most creepy crawly things will do you no harm. It doesn’t stop people having irrational fear of them.
I’ve also heard that cockroaches hate humans, and they will clean themselves of our scent if they are handled.
Some excellent answers here.
I would add that it’s not always fear necessarily but also disgust. Cockroaches are associated with filth, so the presence of a cockroach makes people feel disgusted and uncomfortable. For me, if I see a cockroach it means the place I am in is dirty and unhygienic, and that is enough to cause revulsion.
A lot of the examples you give bar spiders are not things you’d find in your own home. Cockroaches are usually something you’d find in a dwelling where you’d naturally feel safe and separated from nature. Seeing a cockroach in your home or a place you’re staying / eating is different because it’s an invasion of your space, and by a creature we associate with filth.
im afraid of a whole bunch of the things on your list when they are actually in my vicinity.
Well yes, If I see a tarantula in my bedroom I’ll FREAK OUT but I remember once I was sitting somewhere in the south islands of my country (Iran) and I saw this HUGE yellow,furry spider, about the size of my hand on the wall next to me. It had very long legs. It wasn’t a tarantula but the hotel guy said It’s venomous and killed it with a flip flop (which made me sad for the spidey) but I was relatively calm throughout. I would be more afraid if it was a flying cockroach.
But I think I know why. Spiders are never hostile and jittery/unpredictable. They’re calm and shy. But these fuckers will just fly AT you and attack you and are just so unpredictable. I hate them so much.
I mean spiders are generally my favorite of the creepy crawlies because they eat the others and as you said they are much more likely to stay out of the way in a remote corner or such.
I think there’s a misunderstanding here. I’m roachphobic - this doesn’t mean I’m afraid of roaches, it means I hate them and want to murder them all.
I’m in this camp but I’m vegan so, yeah.
I don’t want advanced ubiquitous robotics to put people out of work and to enrich the wealthy. I want advanced ubiquitous robotics so it becomes practical to fill my home with a small army of tiny robots that can crawl through the walls and kill any roach, bedbug, or termite they see.
Cause that’s how we got taught, there’s a video where they put a snake in a baby playground and they barely reacted, some even touched it. That to say that some fears are taught.
As others have said: they’re nasty. There are a myriad of health risks associated with roaches in your home. They definitely do us harm, albeit not as directly or obviously as, say, ticks or mosquitoes.
I consider my fear of roaches to be entirely rational. They directly carry diseases, and they produce allergens. They exacerbate or even cause Asthma. Also, it’s never good to have decaying corpses of any type inside your walls, which is where they will end up if you have an infestation.
They will eat anything. They will go anywhere. They will thrive anywhere. I’ve seen wallpaper come right off the wall because roaches ate all the goddamn glue. You cannot get rid of them without a whole lot of poison (if even), which is itself a health risk. If I see a roach, I go to DEFCON 2. (DEFCON 1 is reserved for bedbugs.)
Apparently the feeling is mutual. Studies have shown that if you touch a roach, it will find a safe place and then clean itself.
Why do they attack you then. One of the only few creatures that I’ve seen that will straight up run/fly at you.
I’m curious if you encountered hyenas when you were on the ground or in a Land Rover. Possibly you live in Africa but have visited Asia or Europe and run into bears?
No I live in Iran. I saw one in the northern jungle/mountains and we were just hiking. It was from ~70m distance and quickly ran away. But honestly, it’s much bigger than a dog and that spikey kinda fur and the hunched back has a really menacing look.
TIL! Hyenas (some species) inhabit a much wider range than I knew.
Where I live, we have a problem with American cockroaches. American cockroaches are a good news/ bad news kinda deal. The good news is that they nest out of doors so they don’t live in your house, and their presence is not necessarily a commentary on your housekeeping.
The bad news is that they will get into your house and they’re about 4 times bigger than the German cockroaches that everyone is familiar with. You can hear them crawling, and they can fly.
I asked the exterminator how to get rid of them for good, and his advice was to move.
I don’t know but the palmetto bugs here, I have an irrational level of fear of those. They will fly AT you. Just writing about them freaks me out.
I am sure they have a place in the world, and a function. But if I never again see a flying mating swarm of them it will still be one too many times.
I love spiders, love snakes. Rats are so interesting and clever. Love vultures and crows. Bugs in general I don’t like except ladybugs, dragonflies, bees, and butterflies but only the overgrown roaches really terrify me.
YES these are the exact fuckers that we have here and I’m talking about. WHAT TYE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THEM DUDE
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You seem to be mixing the concept of being startled and being afraid. Most people can be startled if something moves unexpected across the floor but that is not fear.
Would you refuse to go in the kitchen if a cockroach has been spotted in there? That is fear.
I would not go (or would definitely hesitate to go) into a room where any of wild dogs, snakes, wolves, hyenas, wild hogs, or bears were loose but a few cockroaches wouldn’t stop me.
Nah I definitely have problems going into a room that has cockroaches in it. Also all other things. I won’t lose my shit if I encounter them outdoors tho. Neither a cockroach. Seeing a cockroach outdoors is pretty meh, you just get a feeling in your gut and goosebumps.
If I was at a friend’s place and a dozen wild hogs scurried away when I turned on the bathroom light, I would be startled.
And confused, I fear.
Sounds like you’ve never had to deal with a roach infestation. The worst I ever encountered, in the basement of a slumlord shed following a big flood, looked like the subway scene from Cloverfield
Because they’re basically land shrimp that can survive nuclear fallout.
You should be afraid.
Having said all this, I should also say although I really hate them, I kinda respect them for how badass they are. Truly one of the most badass fuckers on the planet.
The fast movement and lack of sight is what’s scary about them, snakes tarantulas will move away from you and do it slowly, cockroach will run in any direction at full speed when startled unless you explicitly startle them with large thud near them, otherwise they might dash full speed towards you
Also social upbringing making them out to be some great threat and fact we’re way more common to see them than the other actually dangerous creatures
