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Why can we be so scared of things that probably won't hurt us?

为什么我们会害怕那些其实不会伤害我们的东西？

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Most spiders and snakes aren't likely to hurt us, so why are we so scared of them?

大多数蜘蛛和蛇其实都不太可能会伤害我们，那么我们为什么会如此害怕它们呢？

Scientists generally think emotions like fear are not innate.

科学家普遍认为，恐惧等情绪并非与生俱来。

Professor Vanessa LoBue, psychologist, Rutgers University
"They're not there at birth and you need cognition and experience in order to feel them."

瓦妮莎·洛布教授    罗格斯大学心理学教授
“这些情绪并非与生俱来，而是需要通过认知和经验才会逐渐产生。”

But we might be predisposed to learn to fear certain things.

但我们可能天生更容易学会害怕某些事物。

In one study, infants' pupils dilated more when looking at spiders or snakes compared with flowers and fish – a sign they might be perceiving potential danger.

在一项研究中，婴儿的瞳孔在看到蜘蛛或蛇时，比看到花朵和鱼类扩张得更明显——这表明他们可能察觉到了潜在的危险。

From there, a phobia might develop in a few ways.

在此基础上，恐惧症可能通过几种方式形成。

Professor Vanessa LoBue, psychologist, Rutgers University
"One is we experience a negative response right away. So, a lot of kids are afraid of dogs because dogs either have barked at them, have bit them. And then there's the other two that are more common, which is watching someone else be afraid. So there's a spider on the wall, and the mum [gasps]. The other is by verbal information and a lot of fears are learned this way. Think about media, books, what people say."

瓦妮莎·洛布教授    罗格斯大学心理学教授
“其中一种情况是，我们直接就经历了一次负面的体验。比如，很多孩子会害怕狗，因为狗曾对他们狂吠，甚至咬过他们。另外还有两种更常见的方式。其中一种是看到他人感到害怕。比如墙上有只蜘蛛，妈妈 ‘啊’ 的一声叫出来……另一种则是通过语言信息获得。很多恐惧都是这样习得的，比如来自媒体、书籍以及人们所说的话。”

But our phobias don't have to be there for life.

但我们的恐惧并不一定要伴随我们一生。

Professor Vanessa LoBue, psychologist, Rutgers University
“Exposure therapy is, I think, the best way. Just start with really, really benign photos of something and look at positive facts about them, then getting closer and closer to that object is helpful. if you're afraid of something and you don't want to be, there are solutions.”

瓦妮莎·洛布教授    罗格斯大学心理学教授
“我认为暴露疗法是克服恐惧最好的方法。可以先从那些不会引起太大不适的照片开始，再去了解关于它的积极信息，然后逐渐靠近那个对象很有帮助。如果你害怕某样东西，而且不想一直这样下去，有一些方法能帮到你。”

重点词汇或表达

innate 与生俱来的

cognition 认知，认知能力

predisposed 天生更容易…的，预先有倾向的

perceive 感知，察觉

phobia 恐惧，恐惧症