Séamas O'Reilly: Fears are a lot like taste — you find it hard to understand those of others

Things I used to be scared of, like monsters under the bed, or the theme from Glenroe, no longer trouble me in adult life

Seamas O'Reilly. Picture: Orfhlaith Whelan

One of the oddest things about fear, generally, is that it doesn’t seem to instil within us much sympathy for the fears of others. My wife’s phobia of mice is alien to me, as is the prevailing disgust everyone seems to have for bees and wasps, which don’t bother me at all. I’ve been stung by both and, while it wasn’t a particularly fun experience, it was … fine?

And yet, I loathe spiders with something like primordial disgust, despite the fact I am 7,000 times heavier than even the largest spider I’m likely to meet in this part of the world, none of which are physically capable of doing me any harm whatsoever.