Why you shouldn't like spiders

You claim: "Spiders are evil wicked slaughterers, butchers, executioners! They were born to hunt and kill. They don't have sympathy or compassion, no, they just want to suffocate you in their web and suck your blood. Then they just leave you till you drop from the clutches of their web." In truth, spiders are extremely beneficial. They play a vital role in the ecosystem, serving to both keep insect populations under control and serving as a food source for birds and other animals. Some of these benefits directly affect humans. For example, they are an extreme help to farmers. Grasshoppers and locusts destroy crops, but there are spiders that feed on these species. This keeps the grasshopper and locust populations in check, and consequently preserves the farmers' crops. In regions where various diseases are spread by mosquitoes, spiders once again come to the rescue. Many mosquitoes are caught in the spider's web and eaten, which helps to reduce the amount of mosquito-related diseases. A short list of diseases carried by mosquitoes: Malaria, Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, Elephantiasis, and various forms of Encephalitis. According to the World Health Organization, mosquitoes carry organisms that cause disease and death in millions of people each year. And who is the one that eats these mosquitoes? Who helps eliminate this culprit, stopping the spread of disease? Our friend, the spider. Spiders are remarkable creatures. Spiders have various silk glands (there are seven known types). As the silk glands secrete the liquid silk composed of protein, the spinnerets (short, fingerlike organs) spin the silk that the spider then stretches into threads. Another form of silk is then used to coat the thread and keep it sticky. And due to its molecular structure, spider silk is the strongest natural fiber known. Unlike our hair, which forms into an alpha helix, spider silk forms into a beta pleated sheet. It is an extremely strong structure, and the bonds holding it in place are not dissolved in water, unlike our hair. That's an experiment you can try at home. After a shower, try to find a loose hair. You will notice that you can stretch it slightly, a bit like a rubber band, while it is wet. Try the same thing with silk, and it simply won't stretch. To me, the ability to weave the world's strongest natural fiber is pretty damn cool. And knowing the science behind it does not take away any of the awe. So the spinning of silk is another reason why you SHOULD like spiders. Getting back to your story, you state various exaggerations such as: "I screamed bloody murder, sure this was the last moment of my life!", "I was alive because of my Chewy", and "I was almost killed by one of these spiders seven years ago." However, you never state what type of spider this was. I find it highly unlikely that you encountered a funnel-web spider, mouse spider, or Brazilian wandering spider. Other so-called "deadly" species are not actually deadly to humans. Symptoms from a brown recluse or black widow would be nausea, fever, and vomiting. Not death. Based on the fact that the type of spider was not mentioned, I am inclined to believe that you did not encounter one of the deadliest spiders in the world. Rather, you probably encountered a much more common species. But your young age at the time meant that this encounter was traumatic for you. Traumatic events at a young age create phobias. So it is understandable that you now have arachnophobia. But you must understand something. Just because you had a bad experience as a child that resulted in a phobia, this does not mean that spiders are actually evil. There are countless different phobias in this world. But the object of a person's phobia is not an evil entity. A phobia is a psychological problem that the person with the phobia must overcome. You may have a problem with spiders, but spiders don't have a problem with you. It is up to you to seek help in curing your phobia. A good first step would be to admit that you most certainly did not "almost die" from a common spider. For its outstanding abilities to construct a web, its vital role in the ecosystem, its help in protecting crops, and its aid in preventing diseases, I say the spider is a creature that should be respected and admired. In short, there are many reasons why people SHOULD like spiders.