Six legs good, Eight legs bad!

[TheRangerLOL]

That's mean. I imagine an arachnophobist literally throwing their smartphone away from them at certain points in the video.

Judging from the comments, arachnophobes either find it hilarious, terrifying, or both. The idea is that the hilarity would help defuse the fear. Apparently, jumping spider videos also help (because they look cute and behave intelligently).

This. If i was being mean i wouldn't have said anything about it being a spider video.

So what does the new land story tell us? that there are millions or billions of spiders sailing around in the atmosphere at any given time, waiting to touch down on uninhabited land by chance?

It is a reality, but it wasn't my point.

Absurdity? That's the nature of a phobia, an irrational, overpowering fear. You have to see the spider to have the response. Yes, there are spiders all around you, but how many do you actually see in a given day? I can do days, weeks without seeing a spider myself.

Dozens. I find it funny how little people pay attention to their surroundings. Quite often too busy to notice them, but people probably pass by about a hundred spiders on an average day, and depending on where you live probably only a very small fraction of them are dangerous. Places with higher populations of black widows and other dangerous spiders obviously would be an exception, but even those don't bother people most days.

Spiders usually run away from people. I mean, seriously, unless you live in Australia, when's the last time you've seen a spider run towards you? For me, only Wolf Spiders have ever done that, and thankfully they're not dangerous at all (even though they're a bit on the big side). In all honesty, no matter how much you're afraid of spiders, odds are the spiders are having the exact same reaction towards you. That is the part i find absurd.

[Theikkru]

Absurdity? That's the nature of a phobia, an irrational, overpowering fear. You have to see the spider to have the response. Yes, there are spiders all around you, but how many do you actually see in a given day? I can do days, weeks without seeing a spider myself.

Dozens. I find it funny how little people pay attention to their surroundings.[...]

This. I may stumble around in a near-sighted haze for a good part of the day, but I'm not going to pretend that spiders aren't around me, especially when I can see them just fine whenever I put my glasses on and actually look at things.

Now, since there's a clear agreement that arachnophobia is in fact absurd, the question becomes what one does about it!
Do you feed said irrational fear by watching horror p*rn like Lord of the Rings and Arachnophobia, swallowing the tripe being peddled by mass media, and then turn a blind eye to the real-world subjects, so as not to trigger this uncontrollable beast inside you?
Or do you take the rational route, and, empowered by the understanding that said fear is malarkey, use your reasoning mind to demonstrate to, and gradually convince, your emotional/instinctive mind that the monster under the bed is not, in fact, going to drag you under by the ankles?

[kirazy]

Now, since there's a clear agreement that arachnophobia is in fact absurd, the question becomes what one does about it!
Do you feed said irrational fear by watching horror p*rn like Lord of the Rings and Arachnophobia, swallowing the tripe being peddled by mass media, and then turn a blind eye to the real-world subjects, so as not to trigger this uncontrollable beast inside you?
Or do you take the rational route, and, empowered by the understanding that said fear is malarkey, use your reasoning mind to demonstrate to, and gradually convince, your emotional/instinctive mind that the monster under the bed is not, in fact, going to drag you under by the ankles?

I have a reasonably strong feeling you have little to no experience in psychology or treating mental illness. I would further suggest people suffering from arachnophobia pretty much ignore you.

[Theikkru]

I have a reasonably strong feeling you have little to no experience in psychology or treating mental illness. I would further suggest people suffering from arachnophobia pretty much ignore you.

Aha. So your solution would be the first case then? Hmmm. That must be quite difficult, considering that reality, and real spiders, unfortunately won't consider the delicate sensitivities of we poor humans in going about their lives. I'm sure the exterminators appreciate your position; more business for them!

[Koub]

[Koub] OK I see the thread doesn't bring anything new, and is slowly drifting towards a fight. I'm locking it.