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[rawr_bowzer]

I learned this in my psych class. It was actually mapped out in the human genome too. I never believed it was "cultural" either, because one, if it was, one would get over that fear fairly easy. My mom, who is from a country full of venomous snakes, no constrictors, are deathly afraid of them. Even though I assure her my boa is totally harmless, she can't gather the courage to go near it. If you refute that if genes determine our fear, and people like us don't have an aversion, than why hasn't a cultural aversion averted us either?

Those who say that identification doesn't mean fear isn't correct, but not entirely wrong. In an evolutionary standpoint, it could mean life and death, an aversion would be a better word for it.

Evolutionary standpoint: Why are people more afraid of snakes than driving when more people die driving every day more than a snake could kill a person? When it was first introduced, why wasn't there an "aversion" to driving?

It's a representative heuristic. People are afraid of heights because they were genetically wired to stay away from cliffs, or else they'd fall and die. Explains why people are so afraid to fly on planes despite the fact that more people die driving or getting hit by meteors.