Why are spiders more scary than sharks?

[Ravenshire]

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.

Good job on totally misrepresenting my analogy. Straw-man much?

Your argument has been that since sharks are more dangerous, they should be more frightening. By that logic, atomic weapons should be more frightening than a .45.

This is simply not the case. Joe average is more frightened of a .45 precisely because he's far more likely to be confronted by one than an atom bomb. Spiders are generally held to be more frightening than sharks for the same reason.

Which would I rather face? Atom bomb vs. .45? The .45, obviously. Shark vs. spider? Again, obviously the spider.

But, is someone going to pull an atomic weapon on me and demand my money or accidentally nuke me in a drive-by nuking? No. Is a shark going to nestle down at the foot of my bed or nest in my firewood pile? Again, no. Honestly, I'm frightened of neither sharks (zero chance of confronting one) or spiders (extremely low chance of getting bitten by one, as long as I'm careful around their potential hiding places, who's toxicity is lethal), but I do have far more concerns about spiders than sharks because there is absolutely zero chance of me encountering a shark in the course of a normal day. Both Brown Recluse and Black Widows are a very real possible encounter (killed a Widow just last week and usually kill 3-4 of them each year) eight months out of each year where I live. It's already been proven that I am sensitive to the venom of the Recluse family and the one I was bitten by was a Recluse family member with relatively weak venom. If I were bitten by a full grown Brown Recluse, that may well get very ugly.

Personally, if there are animals I fear, it would be coyotes (have observed them in the greenway behind my house), cougars and/or bears. All three of these are legitimate threats along the front range of the Rockies. Granted, I'd have to get out of town for cougars or bears to be more than a passing concern, but I can state as fact that I have never been as frightened for my own life as I was the time I saw a cougar charging my direction. Fortunately she, like Elmer Fudd, was hunting rabbits.