RE: Why are spiders more scary than sharks?
September 6, 2014 at 8:28 pm
(This post was last modified: September 6, 2014 at 8:29 pm by Anomalocaris.)
(September 6, 2014 at 6:01 pm)GalacticBusDriver Wrote:(September 6, 2014 at 1:46 am)Chuck Wrote: If you were bitten by a great white, the effected area will take only 3 hours to digest and 5 hours before becoming shark poo. If it had bitten you next to the spine, life long permanent damage would only last 2 seconds.
You know, I don't think anyone here is arguing that a shark isn't more dangerous than a spider, but that spiders are more frightening.
Atomic weapons are more dangerous than a .45 pistol. Which am I more likely to harmed by? Like the .45 pistol, I'm more likely to be harmed by a spider than a shark.
I've got to add that shark attacks are quite rare. Fatal ones, even more so.
Shark Attack Table
"Several theories have been put forward by experts as to why white sharks sometimes bite people. In this article we examine three of the most prominent theories and look at why most of these incidents are non-fatal."
Source
You overlook the fact that an untoward incident with 45 pistol has a much higher chance of killing you than a spider. In fact the chance of a random hit from a 45's killing you is like what, 25%? Really not that much less, certainly not orders of magnitude less, than that of a great white attack, or even that of an atomic bomb explosion near you.
An atomic bomb can certainly kill a lot more people in one go, yes. But when confronted by an untoward event with a 45, your personal chance of dying is actually in the same ballpark as if you were confronted with an untoward event with a atom bomb. Think about it. That's why it is rational to fear a 45.
The chance of any random spider bite turning out to be a bite from a brown recluse, and not just any bite from brown recluse but one of the few percent that has serious consequences is, what, one in a million?
So the chance of an untoward encounter with a spider having serious consequences is tiny, infinitesimal, next to that of an untoward encounter with a shark, a 45, or even an atom bomb.
That's why I think it is silly treat spiders you encounter with anything like the fear you feel in encounter with a shark, a 45, or an atom bomb.