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| icewendigo |
 Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 2:13 am Post subject: Are animals and humans afraid of fire? |
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Forum Ph.D.
Joined: 21 Jun 2006
Posts: 637
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Apparently many animals have an instictive fear or fire. right?
Is that animal fear really inborn(genetic)?
How about humans? Were ancient humans also afraid of fire at some point in time?
Im not afraid of fire, and I have seen toddlers without fear of it (I guess that might change if theyd get burned), but is there an age when kids fear fire the way animals are said to until they see adults that dont fear it, or is it that theres no fear by default regardless of age? |
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| Pong |
| Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 3:37 am Post subject: |
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Forum Radioactive Isotope
Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Posts: 4180
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Animals are afraid of weird things in general. Fire is weird! You'd probably get similar effect with flapping flag or flashing light.... in fact I've seen CDs hung from strings to scare birds and deer away from gardens. Needless to say humans just think, "Ooh, pretty colours."
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A pong by any other name is still a pong. -williampinn |
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| Rickdog |
| Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:15 am Post subject: |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 22 Jan 2010
Posts: 73
Location: Santiago de Chile
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Only when you are aware that it doesn`t represent any danger at all. Imagine that in the middle of a dark place, if you suddenly see a flash of light, and after you investigate there is no reason of its existence, nor source for its appearance, I can assure you, you`ll feel panic, maybe even think about ghosts or aliens abductions, who knows all the tricks it can make to your mind ?  |
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| HexHammer |
| Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 10:36 am Post subject: Re: Are animals and humans afraid of fire? |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 17 Jan 2010
Posts: 72
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| icewendigo wrote: |
Apparently many animals have an instictive fear or fire. right?
Is that animal fear really inborn(genetic)?
How about humans? Were ancient humans also afraid of fire at some point in time?
Im not afraid of fire, and I have seen toddlers without fear of it (I guess that might change if theyd get burned), but is there an age when kids fear fire the way animals are said to until they see adults that dont fear it, or is it that theres no fear by default regardless of age? |
Imo behavior can be put in genes, observe the Kuku hatchling, it will preform a complex behavior by pushing other eggs out of the nest. Why can animal preform very complex mating rituals, when they'r not taught to?
Imo fear of fire can be a genetic memory. |
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| Pong |
| Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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Forum Radioactive Isotope
Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Posts: 4180
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Can be, but that would be superfluous when the animal is generally afraid of novelty. See, it's better to fear bubbling tar pits, rare vipers, a pair of eyes shining in the dark, simply because these things are weird. This is a robust instinct - it reacts to all sorts of threats, including fire.
Only species commonly exposed to a specific threat would gain by fearing it in particular, or species highly tolerant of novelty (crows, humans) would gain by fearing something.
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A pong by any other name is still a pong. -williampinn |
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| MohaveBiologist |
| Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 7:41 pm Post subject: |
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Forum Freshman
Joined: 23 Dec 2009
Posts: 51
Location: Mohave Desert
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This animal is not afraid of fire but is leary of getting burned. Though I find fire mesmorizing and exciting.
MB ... |
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