Everyone has a fear whether they like to admit it or not. Snakes, spiders, and the dark are all common fears many people have that are considered irrational, but out of all these fears which one is the most rational? According to Very Well Mind, some of the most common irrational fears are the fear of spiders, snakes, heights, dogs, flying, thunder, needles, social interactions, germs, and crowded spaces. When we look at these fears, the first thought is they make sense, don’t they? It turns out that most of them aren’t dangerous.
Out of the most common fears, some arguments could be made on whether they truly warrant a type of fear. The first place out of all 10 would be flying. When you fly, the fear of heights also factors into it but the fear of flying is a more extreme type of height where you’re thousands of feet in the air away from the ground where no matter the fall, you would die. Of course, plane crashes are rare but out of all these fears, it seems the scariest and most deadly depending on where you live.
The second most rational irrational fear is the fear of heights. While heights are very high and can refer to just about any distance, most distances can harm you depending on how you fall, and how old you are playing a part in how a hard fall can affect you. Heights and falling are something anyone in the world can experience and pose a very serious threat to older people. According to The Centers for Disease and Prevention, 1 out of 10 falls from adults results in activity needing to be restricted for at least a day.
The third place goes to a personal fear of mine so I might be biased, but I believe this fear makes sense and isn’t all that strange. Spiders are gross creepy crawly creatures but aren’t dangerous, depending on where you live. If you live in a place like Oregon your worst fears are brown recluses and black widows, which aren’t very toxic compared to other spiders, like the ones in Australia. Hence, the fear of spiders is completely irrational unless you live somewhere with many venomous little demons.
In fourth place we have snakes. Snakes are less scary than spiders because spiders have many legs and eyes making them much creepier to look at; some spiders are very small and people typically encounter spiders much more often than snakes. Spiders can easily sneak into people’s houses, and snakes are typically found in your backyard. Nonetheless, just like spiders, snakes are also venomous and more deadly depending on where you live. Snakes can be fast even without legs, making them seem even freakier, raising their rank on the list.
In the final ranking for the first five fears, in fifth place, dogs. Dogs are another personal fear of mine that many people think is irrational but it has grounds for being a real fear. Most dogs are friendly but at the same time, many dogs are aggressive. According to The Zebra, there are around 900 million dogs in the whole world. Your chances of encountering a dog are exceptionally high and a dog even if domesticated is still an unpredictable animal that has no moral code like humans do. Dogs have different body language than people which can make it hard to read their intent. No dog is venomous, but there are so many of them that could be untrained and attack you, as well dogs are prime carriers of rabies in India, making them especially frightening.
In the next addition, I will rank the last five fears to see which one is truly the most irrational.
