Green - 11/11/22

    In performing independent research for a possible subject for my paper, I came across this piece and thought it an interesting topic to discuss in a blog post so as to share and organize my thoughts. The first paragraph compares mankind’s innate fear of snakes to a Biblical decree: “If one were to believe the book of Genesis, humans’ dislike for snakes resulted from a divine intervention: To avenge the snake’s luring of Eve to taste the fruit of knowledge, God instituted eternal enmity between their descendants.”, and goes on to say that, alternatively, this dislike arose from the general embodiment of evil that snakes represent in other myths and art. This, in the lens of our Ecology and Religion class, brings up several notable points and questions.

    The first point is comparing how the Christian myth depicts snakes as a negative thing, most likely subtly influencing the opinions of Christian believers around the world. On the other hand, the ouroboros, a snake depicted eating its own tail, comes from Ancient Greece and is notable in Alchemy. This snake signifies the cycle of rebirth, a neutral and even positive thing when compared to the mortality that the Christian snake doomed man to. Overwhelmingly, however, the negative portrayal is most popular with figures such as the Basilisk and Jörmungandr, generally bringing destruction and chaos close behind.

    Disregarding religious beliefs for a moment, primates also have an innate fear of snakes due to the possibility of them possessing venom. Biologically speaking, even if the snake is entirely harmless, treating every snake as though it could kill you is more beneficial for survival in the long-run.

    Knowing this, one could make an argument that perhaps this hardwiring is in need of change. We are more technologically advanced than ever before, live more inside than outside, and are hardly treading through rocks and undergrowth barefoot, naked to a snake’s bite. Encountering a venomous serpent is incredibly rare, even rarer that they bite. This is why I believe it is fruitful for people to familiarize themselves with their native venomous snakes, so as to identify and avoid them. This would lessen the amount of times harmless snakes are killed “just to be safe”. These animals are invaluable parts of our environments, but to ensure our safety, I will not argue for a removal of fear altogether, just an introduction of recognition.

 Öhman, Arne, and Susan Mineka. “The Malicious Serpent: Snakes as a Prototypical Stimulus for an Evolved Module of Fear.” Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 12, no. 1, 2003, pp. 5–9. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20182821. Accessed 10 Nov. 2022.

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