Why do holes horrify me?

[stared]

If you want a trypophobia dataset, my mentees created one: https://www.kaggle.com/cytadela8/trypophobia (for a deep learning project). Use it at your own risk. Great Old Ones warn you.

Here is one of the abstracts (with some references): https://www.dropbox.com/s/pb1h19kslroyro8/TrypophobiaTFML.pd...

[me_me_me]

And here I was, wonder why people in horror movies go and have a look for the monster. Immediately opening that gallery.

[ChrisRR]

Jesus, some of those images turn my stomach and I can't explain why.

[normalnorm]

> mentees

Sounds like something you would use for bad breath.

[miguelmota]

Humans want to avoid disease and some diseases can causes holes or hole-like symptoms on victims, so it's human nature to be horrified of clusters of holes because it's abnormal.

[xaedes]

Probably. This also explains that people find comfort in pimple popping and ASMR. The first is a direct skin health care routine and ASMR is simulating human intimacy, probably giving the impression of being cared for by others, which helps when being sick.

I guess it is not widespread because the evolutionary pressure only evolved it on part of human people for local reasons.

Or what I want to believe: Its phenotypical expression is different for different folks because of gene activation. Could be that traumatic occurences in the past (like being serious sick of s.th. like that, or being in the midst of an epidemy, while avoiding it oneself) activate the gene and this is passed on to the next few generations.

[taneq]

That's the thing, most "example images" aren't just a bunch of holes or circles (I've never heard anyone claim security mesh or a half-cooked pancake are horrifying, although apparently crumpets are a known trigger?). They're photos (either shopped or real) of something that looks like a gnarly parasite infection. Disliking that is not 'phobia', it's legitimately yuck.

[thfuran]

Probably not. Lots of abnormal things aren't viscerally horrifying and I'd expect something with a strong evolutionary basis like avoidance of disease to be much more widespread than trypophobia. Such as, for example, the nearly universal dislike of the taste and smell of rotting meat.

[mapcars]

Well, disease is not abnormal nor death is. Only our culture makes it abnormal.

[scotty79]

When I was a kid I tried to make porous plaster brick with baking soda and gypsum. I think I used chalk instead of gypsum because it didn't set. However it was porous and when I saw holes inside I felt as if it was dangerous (maybe even evil).

I had to wait till the internet happened to find out what was that all about.

I have to repeat this experiment some day. I probably got less sensitive since then.

[lioeters]

That's fascinating that the feeling was so memorable, even after so many years, and how you describe it as not only dangerous but "evil" - that seems to be tapping into some primal instinct, like "horror" in a Lovecraftian sense.

> I have to repeat this experiment some day.

Gotta love the pursuit of knowledge, the curiosity to understand one's own psychology. It reminds me of the various experiments conducted in the surrealist movement, inspired by Freud's exploration of the unconscious, the "art of the insane", anthropogical literature.

In another comment of yours, you mention that the holes being physical, rather than a 2D image, was probably an important aspect of its effectiveness in raising a strong reaction. That makes me wonder about what other natural phenomena produce such trypophobic textures, in terms of physics, chemistry, biology.

Strangely, I think I have a kind of "trypophilia", a sense of aesthetic pleasure from dense, complexly patterned structures.

[r00fus]

Interesting - does the Apple Watch Nike sport band (with holes) inspire the same revulsion from you?

[vesche]

Not even clicking on this article because I know it's about trypophobia and I'm afraid of seeing the pictures!

[hangonhn]

I had the exact same reaction but clicked it anyways. I really appreciated them not doing that. All the past articles I've read always included an image -- I can't help but feel the author/editors thought it would be funny or are being dismissive of this fear/aversion. For me it is also triggered by the sight of sick fishes when their scales are puffed up. Images of large numbers of holes triggers a strong fight or flight reaction in me.

[khendron]

There actually are no triggering images. I guess they want trypophobics to be able to read it.

[mapcars]

I wonder can't you see the picture is just a picture? In a way as when you watch a movie where people die or something you realize it's just a movie, right?

[hprotagonist]

social contaigon is a weird, weird thing.

I have always understood /r/trypophobia to be a deep in-joke, and the earliest i can find reference to the idea at all is 2005: https://web.archive.org/web/20090316071914/http://www.geocit...

and that smells tongue-in-cheek too.

[kstrauser]

I don't think it's just that, though. I'd never heard of it, or the concept of it, when I first saw one of those "doctors hate this weird trick for getting rid of parasites" or whatever ads. It had a photoshop of some kind of a seed pod onto human skin, so it looked like a bunch of worm heads inside holes or something. I almost threw up the instant I looked at it. I later found out that lots of people have that reaction, and it had a name. I think sometimes just naming something gives it life, because then it's an actual thing that people can identify with or not. I'm sure there are lots of phobias or... I dunno, triggers?... that would affect me but I've never experienced or heard of them before so I have no awareness of them. A name might give me that awareness.

But yes, it's a weird, weird thing. No one ever talked about being afraid of clowns when I was a kid. Lots of people liked them, lots were indifferent, but I don't recall ever hearing anyone say they were frightened of them until much later in life. And I clearly remember the first time I heard of anyone disliking the word "moist", and thinking I was being trolled.

[dliff]

I experienced this long before I ever saw it on the internet. For me it's especially bad if there is a hole and something small is stuck in it. Even as I type this I remember a specific object I used to see often and I feel my face flush. It's a strangely uncomfortable experience that I can physically feel in my "bones" as they say. I wouldn't say it's a phobia in the sense that I am afraid of it, and I don't often experience it, but it's quite disturbing. An eerie, undefinable discomfort.

[philwelch]

I don't think I have it to the degree that it's a "phobia", but I find a lot of trypophobia images really creepy/gross/frightening. Basically the same reaction I have to arthopods.

I also have had a history, prior to being exposed to the concept of trypophobia, of body-horror nightmares where lots of tiny holes open up in my skin around my joints, so yeah, it's probably one of those common fears.

[maxander]

It's definitely a real thing. I don't have it badly, but when I learned about tryptophobia it was satisfying to know why lotus seed pods had always made me feel somewhat uncomfortable.

(Google that only if you're reasonably confident you're not a tryptophobe. :) )

[ramenmeal]

It's not a joke for me! Google image searching "trypophobia" is terrifying!

[ryanmcbride]

When I was a little kid I was terrified of coral because of the little holes. I definitely wouldn't say I have a phobia but images of things with lots of holes makes my skin crawl.

[elliekelly]

I remember seeing a PostSecret about it (but not referencing trypophobia by name) when I was in college ~2008.

[oarabbus_]

You're utterly off. It evokes a strong reaction of disgust and horror in many people.

[LeonB]

Just want to mention Steve Jobs likely had a similar phobia/disgust around buttons, known as Koumpounophobia.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2014/11/steve-jobss-button-phobi...

[kup0]

My skin is crawling/itching just from reading the discussion about trypophobia, and I haven't even looked at the pictures (and can't, because I definitely have the phobia).

I think there are other visual phobias that maybe are even lesser known. I have some kind of phobia-like thing with industrial/mechanical things that are dirty-looking or poorly-lit. It's hard to explain. Also things like dam spillways/etc.

Like, opening up an indoor furnace to repair or check for issues. The dust, the rust, the coils, etc all give me a weird feeling. It's not as heavy or pronounced as my trypophobia. I can overcome it much easier (with strong/bright lighting, etc) but I still notice its presence.

--

Also, I'm not sure if "phobia" is the best term or not either. For me, in some cases there can be some kind of fear or disgust involved. But mostly for me it's not any kind of mental analysis ("ew, gross", etc) it's just a reaction. Looking at the pictures just immediately induces an unsettling feeling, crawling/itching head and skin, etc.

[EvanAnderson]

I have no problem with the lotus pod-type holes, but things like dam spillways and other large pipe-like structures are creepy: https://old.reddit.com/r/thalassophobia/comments/2tosha/how_...

[dkarras]

I find Trypophobia phenomenon interesting. For most phobias, I can understand how one can develop a repulsion to them. But things that bother you guys, I have 0% reaction to.

[redleggedfrog]

Whoa! I have trypophobia and just never knew what it was - I thought it was just a quirk of my brain.

Sometimes it creeps into my dreams - can be very disturbing.

[aaron695]

/r/Submechanophobia (submerged man-made objects) and /r/Thalassophobia (deep water) are other populated subreddits where people use these these lower emotions to get high.

If you're not phobic you like the adrenaline I guess.

Other than Acrophobia and gore not sure of others that are common enough to get popular subreddits? ASMR is a more enjoyment high.

A lot don't transfer well to a computer screen I think. /r/claustrophobia is quite small compared to Submechanophobia.

[edit] And the reason Trypophobia is thought to not be a phobia -

"While phobias are triggered by the emotion of fear, the study published in the open-access journal PeerJ concludes that trypophobia is more likely driven by disgust instead." https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/trypophobia...

[n1000]

Apparently the new iPhone is known to trigger trypophobia. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/09/12/iphone-tryp...

[Lio]

Whenever this comes up it makes me think of William Gibson’s Neuromancer.

There’s a flashback description of the main character’s revulsion with a smashed wasp’s nest.

That was written in 1984ish so this has been around for longer than the web anyway.

[ncmncm]

Crumpets!

I can't help but think that cognitive therapy would enable anyone to overcome the syndrome. But maybe the thought of a future self having overcome it is itself a trigger?

[DrOctagon]

I'm fine with crumpets but the thought of lotus pods is too much.

[Rifu]

Even without the images, just the descriptions alone were enough to trigger feelings of revulsion.

[huehehue]

I worked with a designer who had Trypophobia and refused to mock out a GitHub-style contribution graph / punchcard. Friendly reminder to not create products that inadvertently terrify people.

[xaedes]

Did you come up with a different design that doesnt trigger it? I would be interested to hear.

[mirimir]

Huh. I'd miss some of my favorite foods.

Pancakes. Crispy fried eggs. Fudge. Raw honeycomb.

Edit: And crumpets.

[pvaldes]

Mangoworm

Good night

[ratsimihah]

I thought it was a universal condition...

[Hitton]

I knew about trypophobia and it doesn't really disgust me, but the linked "Dr. Pimple Popper", has some rather disturbingly "tasty" stuff. I hope I don't dream about.