Dewd! > I suspect I have trypophobia > <https://www.google.com/search?q=trypophobia&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi6wPbzsOPnAhXVsJ4KHfiIDusQ_AUoAXoECBEQAw&biw=1489&bih=861>. > But having a *name* for the trigger helps me a lot, even if I can't help > that my heart races and I start sweating when I look at that set of google > images.
I can't say that I go into cold sweats with this imagery but it does trigger some very visceral (and strangely ambiValent) reaction... my instinct is to suggest that this particular "phobia" is broader/deeper than any one person or set of experiences or cultural embeddings. This particular suite of images/subjects seems to include A) fruiting-body-seeds erupting; B) insect hives; C) skin eruptions/disease. A) seems pretty benign but B) and C) would seem to have some survival value in aversion. "don't go kicking a hive" and "keep your distance from bad rash/hive/spongiform-skin-conditions because it might be catching". I am *drawn* to A) but B) and C) cause more tension with a certain fascination/revulsion. I wonder if this correlates in any way with more "social/cultural" triggers. Having been raised in the West by parents who left the hills of Appalachia after WWII, I still can't hear an Applachian drawl (and the many variants of "southern" from TX to FL to VA) without thinking "ignorant", even though most of my relatives are relatively well educated and not (always) as parochial/provincial as the stereotypes might imply. I know others who romanticize the "southern accent" even (especially?) if they don't "hail from those parts, y'all". <shudder> - Steve ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
