Why are spiders more scary than sharks?

[*Deidre*]

Hmmm...
A shark won't crawl in bed with me, but a spider might. That's fucking scary!

[Ravenshire]

I'll take any widow venom (Black, brown or red) over Brown Recluse venom. The neurological pain from widow venom is something that can be managed quickly, as long as you're a healthy adult.

But that necrotic shit the Brown Recluse releases into you, no thanks. I like my skin the way it is.
(Maybe that's my vanity speaking though...)

Except brown recluse spiders are really hard to provoke, have really short fangs, and you have to press one up against your skin to elicit a bite. Even then, majority of the bites have so little effect that they go unnoticed, and a small percentage cause serious problems.

Great white, on the other hand, need no provocation, have really long teeth, will hunt you down, and will usually bleed you out.

Been bitten by a member of the recluse family. The afflicted area took three years to fully heal and five before all the scarring faded. I was lucky since it bit me right next to my spine, the damage could have been far worse and lifelong permanent.

Never even seen a shark that wasn't in a tank or in a TV show/movie.

[Anomalocaris]

According to wiki, a family in Kentucky lived with a serious recluse spider infestation for many years without once being bitten. Eventually animal control removed 2000 brown recluse spiders from the family house.

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Think the title says it all....

Given the amount of damage each creature can do, and one is our predator, why the imbalance??

Sharks don't crawl in and out of your mouth while you sleep.

Seen plenty of sharks while scuba diving - they're not nearly as threatening as you might expect. On the other hand, moray eels and stonefish I give a lot of respect to. Morays because they're hostile and capable of doing real damage, and stonefish because they aren't hostile - but they look like damn rocks and have extremely poisonous spines.

You haven't seen the right kind of shark.

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Except brown recluse spiders are really hard to provoke, have really short fangs, and you have to press one up against your skin to elicit a bite. Even then, majority of the bites have so little effect that they go unnoticed, and a small percentage cause serious problems.

Great white, on the other hand, need no provocation, have really long teeth, will hunt you down, and will usually bleed you out.

Been bitten by a member of the recluse family. The afflicted area took three years to fully heal and five before all the scarring faded. I was lucky since it bit me right next to my spine, the damage could have been far worse and lifelong permanent.

Never even seen a shark that wasn't in a tank or in a TV show/movie.

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.

[Zidneya]

Think the title says it all....

Given the amount of damage each creature can do, and one is our predator, why the imbalance??

Because I don't have to worry that a shark is gonna appear out of nowhere in my house and bite me.

[Bob the Dugong Deity]

It has to do with the Alien/arachnid conspiracy.

[Ravenshire]

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.

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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

[Keri]

Except brown recluse spiders are really hard to provoke, have really short fangs, and you have to press one up against your skin to elicit a bite. Even then, majority of the bites have so little effect that they go unnoticed, and a small percentage cause serious problems.

Great white, on the other hand, need no provocation, have really long teeth, will hunt you down, and will usually bleed you out.

Been bitten by a member of the recluse family. The afflicted area took three years to fully heal and five before all the scarring faded. I was lucky since it bit me right next to my spine, the damage could have been far worse and lifelong permanent.

Never even seen a shark that wasn't in a tank or in a TV show/movie.

See? Exactly. I don't want to deal with years of healing and scars on my skin and everything. The recluse is the only spider I will kill on site.

Thankfully right now I live on a safe island mass. The only thing that would actually attack and harm you here is the badger...

[ShaMan]

That's not what I'm seeing

[Keri]

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

Great sources.
Two out of those 78 fatalities of the white shark happened in the waters off my hometown during the last 10 years. I'm no maths person but I'd say my chances of being bit are higher than the average person anywhere else given that when I'm living in that town I'm in the same waters 90+ days out of the year. I'm not sure of the total history of great white attacks for that area in recorded history, just going on the two fatalities* I know happened recently.

*That doesn't count all the kayaks and surfboards that get "test" bit all of the time.

I should find someone to do the percentages for me.

[Anomalocaris]

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.