Why do people hate bugs so much?

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Tomato

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A family friend came over today and was curious to see my pet mantidfly, Sensei. I showed it to her and she grimaced. She asked me a bunch of kinda mean sarcastic questions like "does he talk to you?" She seemed amused/disapproving of the fact that I would so much as keep the jar clean and the change the substrate for what amounts to vermin. Now, I do have my opinions on these matters. For example, I see an ethical problem with devoting surgical/anaesthesiological equipment for things like hamsters (yep, seen it at a vet's clinic). I also see an ethical problem with the pet food industry: producing and selling millions of tons of food for dogs and cats while millions of humans around the world are starving. SUre it's more complicated than that, but I'm trying to stay focused here. On the other hand, I don't think those issues were behind her sarcasm. I think she was just disgusted with bugs. Gah! It's frustrating, no? I happen to know that she has *a lot* of ivory pieces in her house...hypocritical yes?

I don't understand? What is supposed to be so gross about bugs that people hold such a double standard? Furthermore, why is it that if you're the type that likes bugs, you're a hopelessly bizarre person and are not to be trusted or taken seriously?

Sorry for the rant, but it was on my mind today and it's clear that you are all hopelessly bizarre and untrustworthy people too, so maybe I can get some thoughts/opinions.

-Tomato

 
Come on man! Being from New York I thought you would have more CAJONES than that! She was just trying to tool you so she could tease you and that was IT. If she was truly grossed out she would have left the room right away, but she continued teasing you so she was just playing a game with you. Take my advice, the next time she teases you about it, you tease her back for NOT liking bugs, then you make fun of the zit that looks like it's growing on her forehead even if she doesn't have one. Everything she throws at you, you just twist it and throw back at her. This might take practice at first, but just keep doing it even if it feels uncomfortable at first.. then you can come back and thank me in about half a year. Stand confident, don't slouch when she's making fun of you (or any girl OR guy for that matter), and everything they do to try to tool you, you take and throw right back at their face.

Everything wants an easy meal, but if you stand up for yourself and make that meal harder than what they originally expected, they will back off and go find something easier to pick on.

I forgot to add that when you do it, do it in a playful way and not in a way where you look all pissed off.. keep your composure. ;-)

 
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Me being the unbiased person that I am, I wonder myself why people behave the way they do. I always say that I can't possibly know why some people (and animals) behave the way they do. It is just one of those things, that we can't explain to all people.

 
kitkat39 said:
Come on man! Being from New York I thought you would have more CAJONES than that! She was just trying to tool you so she could tease you and that was IT. If she was truly grossed out she would have left the room right away, but she continued teasing you so she was just playing a game with you. Take my advice, the next time she teases you about it, you tease her back for NOT liking bugs, then you make fun of the zit that looks like it's growing on her forehead even if she doesn't have one. Everything she throws at you, you just twist it and throw back at her. This might take practice at first, but just keep doing it even if it feels uncomfortable at first.. then you can come back and thank me in about half a year. Stand confident, don't slouch when she's making fun of you (or any girl OR guy for that matter), and everything they do to try to tool you, you take and throw right back at their face.

Everything wants an easy meal, but if you stand up for yourself and make that meal harder than what they originally expected, they will back off and go find something easier to pick on.

I forgot to add that when you do it, do it in a playful way and not in a way where you look all pissed off.. keep your composure. ;-)
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Heh, thanks for the advice but no, she wasn't putting me down and I was not being tooled or picked on. The exchange just got me thinking...it's frustrating that some folks don't seem to be willing to look outside their box even the least bit. Heh, the only reason she didn't leave the room right away is that my mantidfly was in a jar. I mean, if someone is going to ask me if my pet insect talks to me, I'm going to say "no, it doesn't." The point is, why is it so weird to keep a small insect, but not to keep a dog or a hamster? I don't (and haven't) even spent any money on this critter. I wonder what this lady thinks of the E. coli in her intestine? How would she take to the notion that every mitochodrion in every cell in her body is technically a free-living creepy crawly "bug." lol

-Tomato

 
Like I stated, we can't possibly know why people behave the way they do. Science will look into these things, but I think that it will take a long time to figure these things out.

 
Tomato said:
I mean, if someone is going to ask me if my pet insect talks to me, I'm going to say "no, it doesn't."
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Not me, I would've said "yeah, every night before I go to sleep." Heck, some people at my school say I'm part mantis. Sure it's annoying sometimes, but at least I'm interested in something other than the boring average person. And at least I'm not interested in anything maniacal... :2guns: :ph34r: :devil2:

 
Tomato said:
Heh, thanks for the advice but no, she wasn't putting me down and I was not being tooled or picked on. The exchange just got me thinking...it's frustrating that some folks don't seem to be willing to look outside their box even the least bit. Heh, the only reason she didn't leave the room right away is that my mantidfly was in a jar. I mean, if someone is going to ask me if my pet insect talks to me, I'm going to say "no, it doesn't." The point is, why is it so weird to keep a small insect, but not to keep a dog or a hamster? I don't (and haven't) even spent any money on this critter. I wonder what this lady thinks of the E. coli in her intestine? How would she take to the notion that every mitochodrion in every cell in her body is technically a free-living creepy crawly "bug." lol

-Tomato
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Well if you say so, but I still think it would be fun to tool her back if she ever makes little insult comments like that again to try to put you down. You gotta remember that some people do not even realize that insects and arachnids are a different groups of animals too. All they see when they see these things are these icky things that can bite, sting, or are just flat out disgusting. They fear them because they just don't understand them and haven't really found the motivation to try to understand them yet. When is the only time you EVER really see an insect being talked on television? Unless you watch the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, or any of those types of channels.. the only time you ever hear anything about insects and spiders are in the RAID commercials where they are made to look like nothing other than pests. Dogs, cats, hamsters, birds, and such are portrayed in a much more delightful way and there are even songs about them that make them seem cuddly wuddly. When was the last time you ever heard ANY song make a cockroach or a black widow look cuddly wuddly? So like I said, the reason why people fear things is simply because they don't understand them.

If you didn't know a single thing about snakes and you came across 2 different looking snakes that are red, yellow, and black.. would you even wanna get near them? One could be a harmless milk snake or a king snake.. and the other would be a deadly coral snake that could possibly end up taking your life. Even scorpions, if you didn't know a single thing about them and weren't educated about them yet.. would you even care to touch the emperor scorpion which has poison that isn't really any worse than a bee sting? You couldn't tell the difference between the emperor or the death stalker.. would you even take chances? You'd probably smash every single one that crawls into your house because someone you knew got killed by something that "looked just like that".

I think the more we could educate people the more they will open up to these things. I don't think they know the difference sometimes and they all look the same. They aren't as educated about insects as you are yet and can't tell the difference between one or the other. To them, they are all the same, and that may just be "icky". Kind of like how all people who come from Asia are considered Chinese and are probably good at math.. and they all know Kung-Fu.. lol!

So I think instead of getting upset it might be better for you to slowly educate others instead. Either that or do what I do.. make fun of them back for making fun of me in the first place.. THEN slowly educate them afterwards. ;-) Good Luck Buddy!

 
MantidLord said:
Not me, I would've said "yeah, every night before I go to sleep." Heck, some people at my school say I'm part mantis. Sure it's annoying sometimes, but at least I'm interested in something other than the boring average person. And at least I'm not interested in anything maniacal... :2guns: :ph34r: :devil2:
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MantidLord TOTALLY has the right mentality here! Kudos to you buddy!

 
Same thing with snakes. I think it is something in most peoples' genes. Something ingrained over many thousands of years.

 
I think it is harder for people to relate to them. You can relate to your dog or cat or even your hamster. The farther you go on the animal kingdom, the harder I think it is for some people to understand or show compassion or some animals. You have less in common. Dogs are social den animals. Cats are small, cuddly, and warm so we end up treating them like infants. (body temp around 101) Mantids are visual creatures like us. You can understand / relate to a mantid more then another bug because you can pick up on what it is looking at and how it is reacting to something but it's still alien to most people. I think it just depends on the person but for most, insects and reptiles will always be strange.

 
Just a personal thing. To each their own. My boyfriend HATES cats like most dislike buggy things. If he could step on cats like people step on ants, he would. Why does he hate them so? I don't know. I don't understand how he could hate my precious little kitten so much, but he does. BTW, I try to feed her fresh things like I do the mantids and avoid processed cat food. Anyhow, my point being it's just personal preferences. I don't like that people think I'm weird, but I actually am!
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Society dictates what is normal, and bugs are okay for kids and weirdos, but not mainstream society. I loved your rant too. Let it out!
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I think Rick's got it right with the origin of fear being partly genetic, but it is our society/culture here in the US for people to fear and loathe bugs.

Some people retain a natural interest in nature and their brains form on that basis. They see nature and come to realize that arthropods are the pinnacle of diversity in visible nature and therefore the most interesting part of it. Most people are unable to list the common names of ten bugs they might find in their yard and a similar number of plants. They are content to watch American Idol (American, or not) and make a quick trip to McD for dinner and finish the meal, almost not tasting the billion calories in it, during the drive home while listening to the same ten (and only ten) songs that have been playing on that radio station over and over again the last month. But who doesn't like Lady Gaga or a big mac when they partake?

Me? I'm going to a Moroccan restaurant for dinner tonight, but not before I spend a very wild few hours in my bugroom! I might listen to a little Gaga on the drive over, though.

 
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