Why aren't babies afraid of snakes?

The emotion of fear is essential for humans to survive. So why is it that babies have no fear of snakes?

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

Preparation

Exercise

Transcript

Presenter: The emotion of fear is a vital survival mechanism, designed to protect our body's inner balance, a first line of defence against potential threats, even before they’ve struck. The strange thing is, we aren't born with it. For the first few months of our lives, we're quite literally fearless. Our ability to identify things that can threaten our survival is something we learn from those around us. That's why some of our fears are rational ...:

Woman 1: I'm terrified of sharks.

Woman 2: Very quick-moving rodents.

Teenage girl: I'm really, really scared of spiders.

Presenter: ... but others are not:

Girl: Monsters.

Boy 1: Vampires.

Teenage boy: Giant squids.

Boy 2: /dɔk/. Very, very big /dɔk/. (It is not clear whether he is saying 'dark', 'duck' or 'dog'.)

Presenter: You're scared of the dark or a duck?

Boy 2: A duck.

Presenter: A duck?!

Boy 2: (laughs)

Task 1

Exercise

Task 2

Exercise

Discussion

Would you let your baby touch a snake?

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C2 Proficiency

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I wouldn't, a snake is an animal that threatens the life of a baby.

That depends on the snake. If it were tame, or its fangs have been trimmed, I would let a child touch it. In any other case, probably not.

No. I would't.

Definitely no. Even though the baby doesn't have fear about that, we know that snake is dangerous.

Definitely no. Did they really put the baby with the snake? It seemed that he held on the animal tightly. That wasn't a good idea.

no!!! i will not let my baby in contact with snake, in first, because the snake is very dangerous and logically i protect my baby from any threats, in second personnally i am very terrified of snakes...it's my phobia...so i will automatically project this fear to my child.