Trypophobia and the science of disgust
Is this ‘unusual but common’ condition simply a fear of holes, or something more complicated? Tim Wallace reports.
Editor’s note: Readers who feel an aversion to images of clusters of holes or roughly circular objects may wish to avoid scrolling down.
What’s the difference between smallpox and a strawberry? Between scarlet fever and a sea sponge, rubella and bubbles, or leprosy and beeswax? If these comparisons strike you as ludicrous, reward yourself with an Aero bar or a cappuccino. If, on the other hand, you find all of these as repulsive as flesh-eating maggots, there’s a chance you have trypophobia – fear of small holes.
Trypophobia is “unusual but commonâ€, according to Geoff Cole and Arnold Wilkins, two University of Essex scientists who in 2013 described a condition “hitherto unreported in the scientific literature†in the journal Psychological Science. They suggested about 15% of the population might be trypophobic, based on sampling 286 individuals and discovering that 46 found the seed pod of a lotus flower “uncomfortable or even repulsive to viewâ€.
https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/trypophobia-and-the-science-of-disgust
