Name: Common Fears Explained!
Uploaded: 2025-11-17T16:48:04.000Z
Duration: 4 min 25 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Welcome to another spooky episode of Dear Blocko.

Dear Blocko, why are humans so scared of everything?

Luckily, I got my bag o fears right here, stuffed with all sorts of phobias sent in by you humans.

Let's pull them out one by one and see what terrifies you humans the most.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute found that even six month old babies get stressed out looking at spiders and snakes before they're even taught what danger actually is.

Other research shows that big spiders with fat bodies or visible fangs set off extra alarm bells in the disgust and and fear department.

When you're trapped, your body thinks escape is impossible and floods you with adrenaline.

MRI scans even show the amygdala, your fear center, firing harder in claustrophobic people.

Which makes sense since back in the day being stuck could mean predators or suffocation.

That's called humans simply just don't see that well at night compared to predators.

A University of Toronto study found people imagine way more threats in low light than in bright light.

And our ancestors who assumed danger was lurking in the dark were the ones who made it out alive.

The balance system in your inner ear clashes with your eyes when you look way down, which is what makes you dizzy and anxious.

Oxford researchers even found that people always tend to overestimate vertical distances.

That's your brain trying to keep you from tumbling off a cliff.

Let's not forget the fear of germs, which is mysophobia.

A 2009 study found disgust towards dirt and contamination is part of the body's disease avoidance system.

Early humans who stayed away from gross stuff like rotting food tended to survive more often.

Today, the system sometimes goes too far, causing some people to treat harmless surfaces like danger zones.

Research shows the deeper the water, the scarier it feels.

Partly because humans aren't natural swimmers.

Drowning was one of the oldest human killers, so our brains learn to sound the panic alarm fast if breathing feels threatened.

Oh, here's Triangle Bob's nightmare Clowns.

The problem with clowns is that they look human but not quite right.

Their painted faces and big features confuse the brain's face recognition system.

A 2016 study even showed that this ties into the uncanny Valley effect where almost human looking figures tend to just creep people out.

There is also the fear of being watched called scopephobia, where the amygdala lights up when people think they're being stared at.

Well, I'm being stared at right now by you.

A 2011 study even showed people's stress hormones spike just from believing a camera is watching them.

A 2013 study showed that hole patterns remind the brain of diseased skin or parasites, so it reacts with disgust.

Another study found it links to cortical hyperexcitability, which just means the brain is overreacting a bit and freaking you out in the process.

That's enough fears to dig into for today.

The bag's got plenty of more hiding in there though.

If you're comfortable with sharing, let me know in the comments below.

Maybe someone out there has the same fear.

And isn't that what Halloween is all about?

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