What is reality, man?
February 20, 2018 8:49 AM Subscribe
Trypophobia may not be a real phobia. There is no green apple Gummi Bear flavor. Basically,
our senses may not be reliable.
I'd love that, tobascodagama.
link two is also fascinating - apparently the green gummy bears are flavored with Strawberry. Quite an interesting article!
posted by rebent at 9:05 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
link two is also fascinating - apparently the green gummy bears are flavored with Strawberry. Quite an interesting article!
posted by rebent at 9:05 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
So, trypomisia, maybe?
posted by belarius at 9:07 AM on February 20, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by belarius at 9:07 AM on February 20, 2018 [9 favorites]
Katz continues: "So, Skittles have different fragrances and different colors — but they all taste exactly the same."
erm, this statement is grossly at odds with my understanding of how taste works? your tongue can only differentiate a very small set of base flavors, which are then modulated by the smell of the food item to produce the total sensation of a particular taste.
so changing the "fragrance" of a skittle is actually changing its flavor.
posted by murphy slaw at 9:14 AM on February 20, 2018 [30 favorites]
erm, this statement is grossly at odds with my understanding of how taste works? your tongue can only differentiate a very small set of base flavors, which are then modulated by the smell of the food item to produce the total sensation of a particular taste.
so changing the "fragrance" of a skittle is actually changing its flavor.
posted by murphy slaw at 9:14 AM on February 20, 2018 [30 favorites]
For the record, Mars denies that all Skittles have the same "flavor," irrespective of scent.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:16 AM on February 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 9:16 AM on February 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
Katz continues: "So, Skittles have different fragrances and different colors — but they all taste exactly the same."
Nonsense. Anyone who took a mouthful of Skittles after they replaced lime with green apple knows this not to be true.
Lime harmonized with the other flavors. Green apple is an abomination.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:22 AM on February 20, 2018 [32 favorites]
Nonsense. Anyone who took a mouthful of Skittles after they replaced lime with green apple knows this not to be true.
Lime harmonized with the other flavors. Green apple is an abomination.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:22 AM on February 20, 2018 [32 favorites]
It's not so much holes that squick me, but lotus pods and seeds inside them. They look like rows of praying mantis eyes and it's just, yeeeeuck. And when I come across them photoshopped onto human body parts, it's just, yes, utterly disgusting. I had no idea there was any kind of special name for that feeling.
posted by droplet at 9:23 AM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by droplet at 9:23 AM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also purple clearly tastes grape, which I know because concord grape flavor is distinct and SUCKS.
This country needs blackcurrant.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:24 AM on February 20, 2018 [19 favorites]
This country needs blackcurrant.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:24 AM on February 20, 2018 [19 favorites]
Wait, I'm sorry. Is the unreliability of our senses meant to be news? I mean, Descartes much? Plato?
This is not something we are just coming to realize. The question of why our senses are unreliable is where the interesting problem is (as the philosophy link at the end alludes to).
posted by oddman at 9:32 AM on February 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
This is not something we are just coming to realize. The question of why our senses are unreliable is where the interesting problem is (as the philosophy link at the end alludes to).
posted by oddman at 9:32 AM on February 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
It may not be a phobia, but those Suriname toads still freak me the hell out.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:33 AM on February 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:33 AM on February 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
Some people are even fearful of going to the dentist. (From the first paragraph.)
No shit. The linked article says 60% of us have anxiety about dentist visits, and 5-10% of us have full-blown "dental phobia" (an official DSM ailment).
posted by kozad at 9:38 AM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
No shit. The linked article says 60% of us have anxiety about dentist visits, and 5-10% of us have full-blown "dental phobia" (an official DSM ailment).
posted by kozad at 9:38 AM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
This country needs blackcurrant.
Neat story, actually. Why we don't have blackcurrant in the United States.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:38 AM on February 20, 2018 [29 favorites]
Neat story, actually. Why we don't have blackcurrant in the United States.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:38 AM on February 20, 2018 [29 favorites]
This past season of American Horror Story kind of got me over my trypophobia, which was nice?
Now if I could find a way to get over my other "imaginary" syndrome, misophonia.
posted by elsietheeel at 9:44 AM on February 20, 2018
Now if I could find a way to get over my other "imaginary" syndrome, misophonia.
posted by elsietheeel at 9:44 AM on February 20, 2018
Or we can just accept that the word phobia in actual English language use covers all kinds of revulsion, from fear to disgust. We don't speak Greek or Latin, English words mean what we use them to mean.
posted by tavella at 9:45 AM on February 20, 2018 [27 favorites]
posted by tavella at 9:45 AM on February 20, 2018 [27 favorites]
Descartes much?
Descartes, following his arguments about sensory illusions, should have also argued as follows: rational arguments sometimes have seemed convincing to me, but have turned out to be in error. I therefore will exclude all rational arguments from my search for foundational knowledge.
posted by thelonius at 9:51 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Descartes, following his arguments about sensory illusions, should have also argued as follows: rational arguments sometimes have seemed convincing to me, but have turned out to be in error. I therefore will exclude all rational arguments from my search for foundational knowledge.
posted by thelonius at 9:51 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Another ( I think this is very old, but I heard this version from Simon Blackburn) objection to Descartes. Evaluate the following argument:
1) Some money is counterfeit
2) Therefore, all money might be counterfeit.
posted by thelonius at 9:53 AM on February 20, 2018
1) Some money is counterfeit
2) Therefore, all money might be counterfeit.
posted by thelonius at 9:53 AM on February 20, 2018
I don't generally have a response to "holes," but those super-huge sunflowers freak me right the hell out. One of my wife's coworkers grows them and gave us a couple of heads to roast for seeds once. I couldn't look at them. I inadvertently flung one on the floor the first time I saw it.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:53 AM on February 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 9:53 AM on February 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
super-huge sunflowers
oh god don't click on that
posted by thelonius at 9:55 AM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
oh god don't click on that
posted by thelonius at 9:55 AM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
Ugh, you Cartesians and your constant blathering about whether senses are reliable and what is really there. The real question is what is the phenomenon of the skittle and its scents? What is its being, man, like is the skittle skittle-skittling or is it just present-at-hand?
posted by Lutoslawski at 9:56 AM on February 20, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by Lutoslawski at 9:56 AM on February 20, 2018 [11 favorites]
I think we just use an ideal-typical skittle as a framework by which we evaluate all skittles-in-the-world.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 10:00 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 10:00 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Yeah, I am absolutely, thoroughly disgusted by holes in things. They make me deeply uncomfortable, and usually pretty nauseous. There is an instant sort of fear response: my heart beats a little faster, I need to get away, etc. The underlying motivation for all that might not be fear, but it certainly has a similar effect on me.
See also: my feelings about clowns. I've never thought of myself as being scared of them, but I hate clowns, and I really don't like seeing them, being around them, or thinking about them. It isn't somehow super-scary because of this (the evil clown thing feels trite to me), I just don't want to watch it because I don't want to have to see that much of any clown. Hate or fear, or some mixture of both?
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 10:00 AM on February 20, 2018
See also: my feelings about clowns. I've never thought of myself as being scared of them, but I hate clowns, and I really don't like seeing them, being around them, or thinking about them. It isn't somehow super-scary because of this (the evil clown thing feels trite to me), I just don't want to watch it because I don't want to have to see that much of any clown. Hate or fear, or some mixture of both?
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 10:00 AM on February 20, 2018
"So, Skittles have different fragrances and different colors — but they all taste exactly the same."
HAMLET: What flavor dost thou dig in it for?
GRAVEDIGGER: For no flavor, sir.
HAMLET: What color, then?
GRAVEDIGGER: For none, neither.
HAMLET: Wherefore then, this bag of sweets, is thy hand buried in ’t?
GRAVEDIGGER: For one that was a Skittle, sir, but, rest its soul, is eaten.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 10:03 AM on February 20, 2018 [27 favorites]
HAMLET: What flavor dost thou dig in it for?
GRAVEDIGGER: For no flavor, sir.
HAMLET: What color, then?
GRAVEDIGGER: For none, neither.
HAMLET: Wherefore then, this bag of sweets, is thy hand buried in ’t?
GRAVEDIGGER: For one that was a Skittle, sir, but, rest its soul, is eaten.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 10:03 AM on February 20, 2018 [27 favorites]
FWIW: About a decade ago in psych class we were blindfolded and did a Skittles "taste and guess the color" test. We all started confident that we would be able to do it, red clearly being the most delicious, but in the end none of us beat random chance.
Things may have changed since then with the aforementioned Green Apple.
posted by matrixclown at 10:18 AM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Things may have changed since then with the aforementioned Green Apple.
posted by matrixclown at 10:18 AM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
I used to work for a large multinational company. One of their businesses was candy. I didn't work for that division, but there was a newsletter about them which was distributed to other divisions. I like candy and was interested so I would read them. One of the things that came up again and again was discussion of flavorings. They would refer to the flavors by color. Particularly the red. Lots of talk of "core red flavors" or how the most popular flavor is red. They also talked a lot about nostalgia. Apparently nostalgia is great for candy sales so they would bring things on and off the market, as a strategy, to foster nostalgia.
A thing I have noticed about red flavors. There are various kinds of candies that have something tasty inside a shiny, colored candy shell. Like M&Ms have chocolate inside, Skittles have taffy, Spree are like coated Sweet Tarts, etc. And the red coating is bitter. If you bite right in you don't notice, but if you hold red candies in your mouth without breaking them, they are bitter. Especially Spree. I can tell which Sprees are the red ones, in the dark. Yuck.
posted by elizilla at 10:19 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
A thing I have noticed about red flavors. There are various kinds of candies that have something tasty inside a shiny, colored candy shell. Like M&Ms have chocolate inside, Skittles have taffy, Spree are like coated Sweet Tarts, etc. And the red coating is bitter. If you bite right in you don't notice, but if you hold red candies in your mouth without breaking them, they are bitter. Especially Spree. I can tell which Sprees are the red ones, in the dark. Yuck.
posted by elizilla at 10:19 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Yeah, I have a "true" phobia of fish as well as trypophobia, and they both feel intense but wholly different. When I encounter a dead fish it almost shuts down everything but animal reaction in me - I either freeze in place and my brain whites out for a few seconds, or else I physically react in what feels like completely uncontrollable and unthinking ways (once at the beach I leapt, Scooby Doo-style, onto my mother despite being 14 years old). Holes give me goosebumps all over my body and make me itch and feel nauseous and weak, and sometimes I have a hard time putting them out of my mind when I've seen them. I never really thought of that as a phobia until I heard the term trypophobia, but I would have assumed it was understood that "phobia" encompasses a variety of conditions/reactions.
As far as colors/flavors go, I used to insist that red, yellow, and green peppers tasted the same so it was ridiculous to spend more money for the red/yellow kinds, but my now-wife and I did a blind taste test and we could tell the difference. The forfeit was that I had to drink a Colt 45 through a Twizzler (while wearing a crown carved from a leftover pepper). I don't think any color Twizzler would have made that a more enjoyable experience.
posted by DingoMutt at 10:31 AM on February 20, 2018 [20 favorites]
As far as colors/flavors go, I used to insist that red, yellow, and green peppers tasted the same so it was ridiculous to spend more money for the red/yellow kinds, but my now-wife and I did a blind taste test and we could tell the difference. The forfeit was that I had to drink a Colt 45 through a Twizzler (while wearing a crown carved from a leftover pepper). I don't think any color Twizzler would have made that a more enjoyable experience.
posted by DingoMutt at 10:31 AM on February 20, 2018 [20 favorites]
On the topics of artificial flavors and things with holes in them, we all remember Lore's review of Froot Loops from 1998, right?
One of the nicest things that ever happened to me was when a then-girlfriend took it upon herself to go through a box of Froot Loops and separate the colors. She then gave the box, each color in an individual baggie, to me. What wonders I did to deserve segregated fruit cereal, I don't know, but I experienced a thrill not unlike opening the fabled Ark of the Covenant, except without the melting face bit. At any rate, I was able to answer the Eternal Froot Loop question: Do the different colors really taste different? The long-awaited answer: Sort of. Aposted by aubilenon at 10:35 AM on February 20, 2018 [10 favorites]
I don't generally have a response to "holes," but those super-huge sunflowers freak me right the hell out. One of my wife's coworkers grows them and gave us a couple of heads to roast for seeds once. I couldn't look at them. I inadvertently flung one on the floor the first time I saw it.I disregarded thelonius's warning and clicked on the link. It is uncomfortable-looking, although for me it's less about the holes (they aren't really holes anyway, right?) and more about the... disproportionateness. Like a face that's all mouth, if that makes any sense.
As far as colors/flavors go, I used to insist that red, yellow, and green peppers tasted the same so it was ridiculous to spend more money for the red/yellow kinds, but my now-wife and I did a blind taste test and we could tell the difference.I know that green bell peppers are usually unripened versions of the brighter colors, hence the distinct taste, but I'm also curious about red vs. yellow. How did they distinguish themselves in the blind test?
posted by inconstant at 10:48 AM on February 20, 2018
I love all the pictures of the weird holes, both in their natural forms and bizarre mashups like photoshopping them onto people.
I wish there were a word for "I like that a whole lot" that didn't also get used for sexual kinks, because trypophilia sounds very wrong.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:49 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I wish there were a word for "I like that a whole lot" that didn't also get used for sexual kinks, because trypophilia sounds very wrong.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:49 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
As someone who gets the trypophobia thing, I agree that it's not a phobia in the classic sense - the overall feeling I get from it is very much a sensory aversion, like a 'oh God I don't want to see that' reaction that's usually paired with this weird frisson-feeling on the left side of my jaw.
I wonder if there's maybe a link to something like an ASMR thing in there?
posted by mikurski at 11:00 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I wonder if there's maybe a link to something like an ASMR thing in there?
posted by mikurski at 11:00 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Lime harmonized with the other flavors. Green apple is an abomination.
TEAM LIME 4-EVA!
(also, team old-school purple and green artificial flavor.)
posted by ApathyGirl at 11:03 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
TEAM LIME 4-EVA!
(also, team old-school purple and green artificial flavor.)
posted by ApathyGirl at 11:03 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Red 40 dye is vile.
posted by brujita at 11:08 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by brujita at 11:08 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Or we can just accept that the word phobia in actual English language use covers all kinds of revulsion, from fear to disgust. We don't speak Greek or Latin, English words mean what we use them to mean.
Ike warned us about the Pedantry Industrial Complex. Or maybe it was Humpty Dumpty.
posted by Celsius1414 at 11:10 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Ike warned us about the Pedantry Industrial Complex. Or maybe it was Humpty Dumpty.
posted by Celsius1414 at 11:10 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I mean, I actually think it's valuable to distinguish between "this makes me intensely uncomfortable" and "this will make me freeze in terror if I don't run from the room screaming instead".
posted by tobascodagama at 11:18 AM on February 20, 2018 [16 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 11:18 AM on February 20, 2018 [16 favorites]
The fact that the internet has decided to give everything that makes them even mildly uncomfortable a cute name by looking up a Greek word and slapping "-phobia" on the end of it doesn't help here, but I'm not going to give up insisting that distinct phenomena should be described by distinct words.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:19 AM on February 20, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 11:19 AM on February 20, 2018 [10 favorites]
Or we can just accept that the word phobia in actual English language use covers all kinds of revulsion, from fear to disgust. We don't speak Greek or Latin, English words mean what we use them to mean.
Well, yeah, we could do that, but it might be handy to distinguish fear from disgust in our terminology. I'm generally in favor of more precision when we can manage it. I'm still a bit annoyed that English dropped the imminently sensible thee/thou/you/ye arrangement for an all-purpose, often ambiguous "you."
If you don't like this comment, please stare at the one above it until this one disappears.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 11:21 AM on February 20, 2018 [13 favorites]
Well, yeah, we could do that, but it might be handy to distinguish fear from disgust in our terminology. I'm generally in favor of more precision when we can manage it. I'm still a bit annoyed that English dropped the imminently sensible thee/thou/you/ye arrangement for an all-purpose, often ambiguous "you."
If you don't like this comment, please stare at the one above it until this one disappears.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 11:21 AM on February 20, 2018 [13 favorites]
I mean, I actually think it's valuable to distinguish between "this makes me intensely uncomfortable" and "this will make me freeze in terror if I don't run from the room screaming instead".
Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense when I think about how I feel about holes in things vs. how I feel about stuff I have an actual phobia of.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 11:33 AM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense when I think about how I feel about holes in things vs. how I feel about stuff I have an actual phobia of.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 11:33 AM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
I somehow developed an erstwhile case of trypophobia about 6 months after reading about it, and thinking “What a weird thing to be afraid of!” in passing before totally forgetting about it. Months later, I was cooking a pot of penne pasta that had managed to arrange itself in such a way that all the pieces were standing up on their ends, and suddenly I was overwhelmed with a feeling of dread and revulsion. It wasn’t like a “boo!” scare, it was more like a *medieval chorus singing ominously* kind of fearful anticipation. Then I was like “heyyyyy I read about this. Wtf!”
It reoccurred several times, but over time the strength of the feeling faded, and now I’ve gone back to not noticing holes in anything. (Although now that I’ve commented, I wonder if it will come back to any degree.)
posted by Autumnheart at 11:33 AM on February 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
It reoccurred several times, but over time the strength of the feeling faded, and now I’ve gone back to not noticing holes in anything. (Although now that I’ve commented, I wonder if it will come back to any degree.)
posted by Autumnheart at 11:33 AM on February 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
this is really pedantic stuff, IMO
I guess you should go track down the authors of the study and inform them and the journal reviewers who approved their article that they're all just a bunch of pedants, then.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:33 AM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
I guess you should go track down the authors of the study and inform them and the journal reviewers who approved their article that they're all just a bunch of pedants, then.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:33 AM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Academic research is supposed to be pedantic.
posted by Autumnheart at 11:36 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Autumnheart at 11:36 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I somehow developed an erstwhile case of trypophobia
while we're on pedantry, you know that means "former", right?
posted by thelonius at 11:37 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
while we're on pedantry, you know that means "former", right?
posted by thelonius at 11:37 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
What, “erstwhile”? Yes, I used it correctly.
posted by Autumnheart at 11:39 AM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Autumnheart at 11:39 AM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
"An erstwhile case of tryptophobia" would have to be a thing that once was a case of tryptophobia, but isn't any more, which doesn't make sense, at least to me.
posted by thelonius at 11:41 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 11:41 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I feel a mild discomfort at some of the hole type things — not to the extreme that some do, obviously — but the sunflower doesn't bother me at all. This may also explain the fact that I didn't stick with Channel Zero beyond the first few episodes because I found the creature covered with teeth just silly and not creepy.
I wish there were a word for "I like that a whole lot" that didn't also get used for sexual kinks
I need this for how I feel about spiders.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:41 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I wish there were a word for "I like that a whole lot" that didn't also get used for sexual kinks
I need this for how I feel about spiders.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:41 AM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
You yourself could be an erstwhile tryptophobe though
posted by thelonius at 11:42 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 11:42 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Months later, I was cooking a pot of penne pasta that had managed to arrange itself in such a way that all the pieces were standing up on their ends
*medieval chorus singing ominously*
this made the most delightful little short film in my head, can somebody make a Vine out of this
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:47 AM on February 20, 2018 [16 favorites]
*medieval chorus singing ominously*
this made the most delightful little short film in my head, can somebody make a Vine out of this
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:47 AM on February 20, 2018 [16 favorites]
Or not!
posted by Autumnheart at 11:47 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Autumnheart at 11:47 AM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't get ASMR but from how it's described, it sounds to me like my tryptophobia (or w/e you want to call it) manifests as an unpleasant version of that. Shivers, goosebumps, vague queasiness. I wonder if there's any connection there, for pleasures that aren't sexual but almost, or fears that aren't phobias but almost. Both seem to click at this visceral level.
Also, this thread is making me lightheaded from discomfort lol.
posted by Emily's Fist at 11:49 AM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also, this thread is making me lightheaded from discomfort lol.
posted by Emily's Fist at 11:49 AM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
Months later, I was cooking a pot of penne pasta that had managed to arrange itself in such a way that all the pieces were standing up on their ends
Ziti does this to me all the time. It must have something to do with the most efficient paths for boil bubbles, or something. But it is pretty freaky, to be cooking some pasta, with a roil of bubbles and steam and starch-foam obscuring everything, and turn off the burner and the water clears and OH GOD THEY'RE COMING TO GET ME.
posted by jackbishop at 12:01 PM on February 20, 2018 [10 favorites]
Ziti does this to me all the time. It must have something to do with the most efficient paths for boil bubbles, or something. But it is pretty freaky, to be cooking some pasta, with a roil of bubbles and steam and starch-foam obscuring everything, and turn off the burner and the water clears and OH GOD THEY'RE COMING TO GET ME.
posted by jackbishop at 12:01 PM on February 20, 2018 [10 favorites]
I've thought about this before, and if "-phobia" refers to actual irrational fear, I don't have any phobias. But I don't believe anybody who knows me properly could say that. For example, though I've made a lot of progress getting over it, I consider myself an arachnophobe. And I actually don't think the feeling I get about spiders is different from the one I get about holes. It's not that one is fear and one is disgust. They're both more like horror. There's also a lot of dread and anxiety.
Yes, I behave differently (panicking, weeping, etc.) when I see spiders, because they're real beings that pop up unexpectedly in random places at random times (which means I also have to anticipate and worry about encountering them), and I have to confront their physical bodies using my physical body. (Ooooo I'm feeling lightheaded just writing this.) I remember every place in my house where I've ever seen a spider and those places feel essentially haunted to me. My arachophobia is a long event composed of a series of short, intense events that have often required my active participation to resolve - it's a very cumulative phobia. Whereas I usually come across a bunch of horrible holes in a photograph or something and I can basically always control my exposure to them. I feel awful, but the situation is easy to escape. I don't have to freak out externally. If lotus boob could suddenly appear on my kitchen counter whenever it felt like it, I might.
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 12:10 PM on February 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
Yes, I behave differently (panicking, weeping, etc.) when I see spiders, because they're real beings that pop up unexpectedly in random places at random times (which means I also have to anticipate and worry about encountering them), and I have to confront their physical bodies using my physical body. (Ooooo I'm feeling lightheaded just writing this.) I remember every place in my house where I've ever seen a spider and those places feel essentially haunted to me. My arachophobia is a long event composed of a series of short, intense events that have often required my active participation to resolve - it's a very cumulative phobia. Whereas I usually come across a bunch of horrible holes in a photograph or something and I can basically always control my exposure to them. I feel awful, but the situation is easy to escape. I don't have to freak out externally. If lotus boob could suddenly appear on my kitchen counter whenever it felt like it, I might.
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 12:10 PM on February 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
I'm in Maine and it's pothole season. My truck suspension and I fear them.
Apples tastes great, apple-flavored things, less so, sour apple flavored things are gross. Jelly beans, SweetTarts, Sour Gummies. Watermelon, too. Do y'all millennial like sour apple and watermelon flavored things? Are they cheaper flavors?
Dairy Queen no longer makes orange Mr. Misty, so no orange Misty float, a.k.a. dreamsicle. Change sucks. I fear stupid change.
posted by theora55 at 12:11 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Apples tastes great, apple-flavored things, less so, sour apple flavored things are gross. Jelly beans, SweetTarts, Sour Gummies. Watermelon, too. Do y'all millennial like sour apple and watermelon flavored things? Are they cheaper flavors?
Dairy Queen no longer makes orange Mr. Misty, so no orange Misty float, a.k.a. dreamsicle. Change sucks. I fear stupid change.
posted by theora55 at 12:11 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
also this thread has two completely unrelated parallel discussions going on so to bring it all together coherently I am going to photoshop some holes into Skittles, brb
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:14 PM on February 20, 2018 [21 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:14 PM on February 20, 2018 [21 favorites]
A few years ago I watched what may have been an episode of 60 Minutes where a flavor scientist asked subjects to identify the chocolate vs. strawberry flavor of a popular yogurt brand with a blindfold on. They were no better than chance at identifying the flavors in their yogurt.
It was at that moment that I decided that wine tasters and coffee cuppers are bullshit artists.
posted by xyzzy at 12:15 PM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
It was at that moment that I decided that wine tasters and coffee cuppers are bullshit artists.
posted by xyzzy at 12:15 PM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I wish someone would give me a taste test. I know my so-called grapes from my so-called strawberries. I can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi, I know I can. All I want is the chance to prove it.
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 12:19 PM on February 20, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 12:19 PM on February 20, 2018 [10 favorites]
If lotus boob could suddenly appear on my kitchen counter whenever it felt like it
I read a thing on the Internet once about a woman who was a coulrophobe, and was tormented by a fear that her husband was leading a secret life as a clown and a mime. That was her kitchen counter lotus boob, I suppose - that all this time, there had been a clown in her own bed. I hope treatment gave her some relief, because that really sounds like an awful way to live.
posted by thelonius at 12:22 PM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I read a thing on the Internet once about a woman who was a coulrophobe, and was tormented by a fear that her husband was leading a secret life as a clown and a mime. That was her kitchen counter lotus boob, I suppose - that all this time, there had been a clown in her own bed. I hope treatment gave her some relief, because that really sounds like an awful way to live.
posted by thelonius at 12:22 PM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Is it "see the rainbow, (therefore) taste the rainbow", or are the clauses disjunct "see the rainbow, (also) taste the rainbow"? If the rainbow is tasted by a blind man alone in a forest, does it have a flavor?
posted by idiopath at 12:28 PM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by idiopath at 12:28 PM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
Fear of vomit and vomiting has kept me from leaving the house for days on end, but I've never experienced that with holes in things, despite intense visceral disgust. I can, however, imagine that somewhere there is someone so thoroughly disgusted with holes in things that they can't leave the house sometimes because they want to avoid that discomfort. Is the study saying that trypophobia is less severe than a true phobia, or just that it's not a true phobia because the discomfort arises from disgust rather than fear? Because the intensity of the reaction should be taken into account, too. From what I can tell, the study just shows that there's a certain response associated more with disgust than fear.
It might be useful in some contexts to say "oh, it's actually disgust," but is it practically helpful if someone is affected by it regardless of the cause? This is all hypothetical, though, because I don't know how severe people's reactions actually are.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 12:30 PM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
It might be useful in some contexts to say "oh, it's actually disgust," but is it practically helpful if someone is affected by it regardless of the cause? This is all hypothetical, though, because I don't know how severe people's reactions actually are.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 12:30 PM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
Metafilter: This is really pedantic stuff, IMO
posted by greermahoney at 12:34 PM on February 20, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by greermahoney at 12:34 PM on February 20, 2018 [11 favorites]
I only have a fear of holes in video games. Clash at Demonhead (old NES game) tried to subvert the fear of video game holes by moving you to a playable subworld rather than by just making you lose a life.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:34 PM on February 20, 2018
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:34 PM on February 20, 2018
I've never understood the video game world! Why are their bottomless chasms literally everywhere?
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:36 PM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:36 PM on February 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
i mean
i don't have another phobia to compare it to but i'm refusing to scroll up the thread and join the skittles conversation because of some Things that got mentioned and tbqh i'm a bit scared to go into my kitchen now because the pattern on the counter is now going to make me think of said Things and i hope i manage to forget about that image because... like, i'm going to need to use the kitchen at some point
if i *do* see some of the popular trypophobia photoshops and images that have made the internet rounds i often won't be able to close my eyes for some time after, and won't be able to get the visual out of my head, often for hours
so
(i haven't actually RTFA because i don't want to deal with either descriptions or images)
posted by halation at 12:36 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
i don't have another phobia to compare it to but i'm refusing to scroll up the thread and join the skittles conversation because of some Things that got mentioned and tbqh i'm a bit scared to go into my kitchen now because the pattern on the counter is now going to make me think of said Things and i hope i manage to forget about that image because... like, i'm going to need to use the kitchen at some point
if i *do* see some of the popular trypophobia photoshops and images that have made the internet rounds i often won't be able to close my eyes for some time after, and won't be able to get the visual out of my head, often for hours
so
(i haven't actually RTFA because i don't want to deal with either descriptions or images)
posted by halation at 12:36 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
bottomless chasms
I guess I should really take this to Ask, but I have a childhood memory of being completely terrified by a Flintstones episode that involved a bottomless pit. Fred and Barney were in deep shit, trying to thwart some kind of evil mastermind, and this was a danger they faced. Did I just dream that up? Anyone?
posted by thelonius at 12:41 PM on February 20, 2018
I guess I should really take this to Ask, but I have a childhood memory of being completely terrified by a Flintstones episode that involved a bottomless pit. Fred and Barney were in deep shit, trying to thwart some kind of evil mastermind, and this was a danger they faced. Did I just dream that up? Anyone?
posted by thelonius at 12:41 PM on February 20, 2018
(i haven't actually RTFA because i don't want to deal with either descriptions or images)
If it helps, I can summarize it briefly. The article is pretty short and doesn't describe the images beyond very vague terms, but there is a picture of something offensive. The gist of it is that researches measured pupil dilation in response to images of things self-described trypophobes would find offensive, compared to reactions to other phobias. They found that the trypophobes' pupils dilated in response to the images, which is a sign of disgust, whereas the other phobias did not elicit that reaction.
Basically, they ran Voight-Kampff tests on people.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 12:42 PM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
If it helps, I can summarize it briefly. The article is pretty short and doesn't describe the images beyond very vague terms, but there is a picture of something offensive. The gist of it is that researches measured pupil dilation in response to images of things self-described trypophobes would find offensive, compared to reactions to other phobias. They found that the trypophobes' pupils dilated in response to the images, which is a sign of disgust, whereas the other phobias did not elicit that reaction.
Basically, they ran Voight-Kampff tests on people.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 12:42 PM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
Yes! It was Dr. Sinister. Why do I still remember that after 45 years?
posted by thelonius at 12:46 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 12:46 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I do find holey things mildly disturbing, but I think I’m relating them to images of diseased flesh I saw at a young age. Or maybe I’m just imagining it? I can’t think of where or why I would have seen pictures like that as a child.
And all chocolate covered jujubes taste exactly like the memory of Big Turk regardless of colour.
posted by rodlymight at 12:50 PM on February 20, 2018
And all chocolate covered jujubes taste exactly like the memory of Big Turk regardless of colour.
posted by rodlymight at 12:50 PM on February 20, 2018
Yes, basically all candy "fruit" flavors in the US are basically just citric acid and some perfumes. This is why Skittles taste like generic fruit when you have a stuffy nose, but actually taste different when you don't.
Btw, blue and red wild berry Skittles are the best possible combination except perhaps blue, red, and purple together.
posted by wierdo at 12:57 PM on February 20, 2018
Btw, blue and red wild berry Skittles are the best possible combination except perhaps blue, red, and purple together.
posted by wierdo at 12:57 PM on February 20, 2018
God dammit y'all made me look up lotus boob
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:04 PM on February 20, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:04 PM on February 20, 2018 [9 favorites]
I know that green bell peppers are usually unripened versions of the brighter colors, hence the distinct taste, but I'm also curious about red vs. yellow. How did they distinguish themselves in the blind test?
I don’t know, but red peppers transform into something really superb if you flame roast them and scrape off the blackened skin (trust me, do this). The same treatment does nothing much for yellow or green. I conjecture reds have caramelisable sugars or some such that the others lack.
posted by Segundus at 1:39 PM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I don’t know, but red peppers transform into something really superb if you flame roast them and scrape off the blackened skin (trust me, do this). The same treatment does nothing much for yellow or green. I conjecture reds have caramelisable sugars or some such that the others lack.
posted by Segundus at 1:39 PM on February 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I wish someone would give me a taste test. I know my so-called grapes from my so-called strawberries. I can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi, I know I can. All I want is the chance to prove it.
Are you John Lee Supertaster?
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:50 PM on February 20, 2018
Are you John Lee Supertaster?
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:50 PM on February 20, 2018
Hi, doctorate-holding flavor chemist checking in.
murphy slaw is correct here:
Katz continues: "So, Skittles have different fragrances and different colors — but they all taste exactly the same."
erm, this statement is grossly at odds with my understanding of how taste works? your tongue can only differentiate a very small set of base flavors, which are then modulated by the smell of the food item to produce the total sensation of a particular taste.
so changing the "fragrance" of a skittle is actually changing its flavor.
posted by murphy slaw at 6:14 PM on February 20
Taste is an important but very small part of flavor. Most of flavor comes from smell or aroma, sensed through the back of the oral cavity while you're eating. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami = taste. Banana-y, fruity, garlic-y, toasty, citrusy, wine-y, pear-y, raspberry-y....all of that comes from aroma or smell. It's....an emergent property of your brain, but its not an illusion. So changes in color or noise might convince you that one wine tastes like some other kind of wine, but not that wine tastes like a hamburger.
Of course it makes sense that they'd make skittles or gummi bears with the same base of candy that has a certain level of sugar and organic acids—then alter THE FLAVOR by adding in different aromas. Don Katz, the quoted Brandeis taste neuropsychologist, who led this science journalist to believe that same tastes = same flavors either doesn't understand flavor, or is an irresponsible communicator of science.
posted by zingiberene at 2:14 PM on February 20, 2018 [28 favorites]
murphy slaw is correct here:
Katz continues: "So, Skittles have different fragrances and different colors — but they all taste exactly the same."
erm, this statement is grossly at odds with my understanding of how taste works? your tongue can only differentiate a very small set of base flavors, which are then modulated by the smell of the food item to produce the total sensation of a particular taste.
so changing the "fragrance" of a skittle is actually changing its flavor.
posted by murphy slaw at 6:14 PM on February 20
Taste is an important but very small part of flavor. Most of flavor comes from smell or aroma, sensed through the back of the oral cavity while you're eating. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami = taste. Banana-y, fruity, garlic-y, toasty, citrusy, wine-y, pear-y, raspberry-y....all of that comes from aroma or smell. It's....an emergent property of your brain, but its not an illusion. So changes in color or noise might convince you that one wine tastes like some other kind of wine, but not that wine tastes like a hamburger.
Of course it makes sense that they'd make skittles or gummi bears with the same base of candy that has a certain level of sugar and organic acids—then alter THE FLAVOR by adding in different aromas. Don Katz, the quoted Brandeis taste neuropsychologist, who led this science journalist to believe that same tastes = same flavors either doesn't understand flavor, or is an irresponsible communicator of science.
posted by zingiberene at 2:14 PM on February 20, 2018 [28 favorites]
For example, that favorite elementary school science experiment where you taste an apple vs an onion with your nose blocked up, and they'll taste the same.
posted by tavella at 2:33 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by tavella at 2:33 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Taste is an important but very small part of flavor. Most of flavor comes from smell or aroma, sensed through the back of the oral cavity while you're eating. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami = taste. Banana-y, fruity, garlic-y, toasty, citrusy, wine-y, pear-y, raspberry-y....all of that comes from aroma or smell.
For example, that favorite elementary school science experiment where you taste an apple vs an onion with your nose blocked up, and they'll taste the same.
Someone in my family had a rather large brain tumor removed a few years ago, and there were no long-term effects, except that they permanently lost their sense of smell. However, the doctor told them that their sense of taste would be relatively unaffected. I've always been confused by this, because smell is supposed to be such an important part of taste.
This person very clearly distinguishes between apples and onions. Is that primarily a matter of expectation based on other cues? They still prefer the same foods, still dislike the same ones they disliked before. Is that just out of habit? They say they haven't been able to notice things tasting any differently than they did before. Is that because they lost their sense of smell gradually and never noticed the change?
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 2:49 PM on February 20, 2018
For example, that favorite elementary school science experiment where you taste an apple vs an onion with your nose blocked up, and they'll taste the same.
Someone in my family had a rather large brain tumor removed a few years ago, and there were no long-term effects, except that they permanently lost their sense of smell. However, the doctor told them that their sense of taste would be relatively unaffected. I've always been confused by this, because smell is supposed to be such an important part of taste.
This person very clearly distinguishes between apples and onions. Is that primarily a matter of expectation based on other cues? They still prefer the same foods, still dislike the same ones they disliked before. Is that just out of habit? They say they haven't been able to notice things tasting any differently than they did before. Is that because they lost their sense of smell gradually and never noticed the change?
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 2:49 PM on February 20, 2018
Someone in my family had a rather large brain tumor removed a few years ago, and there were no long-term effects, except that they permanently lost their sense of smell. However, the doctor told them that their sense of taste would be relatively unaffected. I've always been confused by this, because smell is supposed to be such an important part of taste.
This confusion may have to do with the limits of using some words as technical terminology and some words as colloquial terminology—it can get confusing!
Smell and Taste both contribute to Flavor, but Taste =/= Flavor and Smell =/= Flavor.
In English we use "taste" and "flavor" pretty synonymously in the colloquial sense, but the technical meaning of the two words is distinct.
Taste is the perception of stimuli that have activated taste receptors on your tongue—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami (and probably a few more like fatty and carbon dioxide but let's not confuse things); whereas Flavor is the composite sensation of taste and smell, with some info added in from the other senses (chile spice and astringency both come from the sense of touch, inside your mouth, for example). So, you could lose your sense of smell and it could have little impact on your sense of taste, since taste and smell two distinct channels that feed into flavor.
This person very clearly distinguishes between apples and onions. Is that primarily a matter of expectation based on other cues? They still prefer the same foods, still dislike the same ones they disliked before. Is that just out of habit? They say they haven't been able to notice things tasting any differently than they did before. Is that because they lost their sense of smell gradually and never noticed the change?
Interesting! It would be hard for me to weigh in without doing some tests on your relative. They could have had a lower sense of smell to begin with, possibly, Usually when people lose their sense of smell (as can happen to most people in aging), they start losing interest in their food. Your relative might also be sensing taste alone, plus other cues like color and texture.
posted by zingiberene at 3:23 PM on February 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
This confusion may have to do with the limits of using some words as technical terminology and some words as colloquial terminology—it can get confusing!
Smell and Taste both contribute to Flavor, but Taste =/= Flavor and Smell =/= Flavor.
In English we use "taste" and "flavor" pretty synonymously in the colloquial sense, but the technical meaning of the two words is distinct.
Taste is the perception of stimuli that have activated taste receptors on your tongue—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami (and probably a few more like fatty and carbon dioxide but let's not confuse things); whereas Flavor is the composite sensation of taste and smell, with some info added in from the other senses (chile spice and astringency both come from the sense of touch, inside your mouth, for example). So, you could lose your sense of smell and it could have little impact on your sense of taste, since taste and smell two distinct channels that feed into flavor.
This person very clearly distinguishes between apples and onions. Is that primarily a matter of expectation based on other cues? They still prefer the same foods, still dislike the same ones they disliked before. Is that just out of habit? They say they haven't been able to notice things tasting any differently than they did before. Is that because they lost their sense of smell gradually and never noticed the change?
Interesting! It would be hard for me to weigh in without doing some tests on your relative. They could have had a lower sense of smell to begin with, possibly, Usually when people lose their sense of smell (as can happen to most people in aging), they start losing interest in their food. Your relative might also be sensing taste alone, plus other cues like color and texture.
posted by zingiberene at 3:23 PM on February 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
Yay I get to talk about manzanate!
When i first got into hardcore parfumery, I bought a pile of weird ass chemicals for flavor and perfumery use. Manzanate is wild, y all. When I first sniffed it (less carefully than I should have I admit) it was a crazy bouquet of citrus and green growing things and a bite of..something deliciously yet disgustingly familiar. Couldn't place it, blew my nose out for days from my foolishness, decided to shelve it for later (coincidentally in favor of blackcurrant accord, but that's a whole other box of kittens)...
Later that month I was viciously fooled by a bottle of Perrier which appeared plain at the shop but was in fact Green Fucking Apple (a nightmare at the best of times, but particularly when you want some Damnit, Fancy Drinkable Water). The second I opened it I realized that it has a hearty inclusion of Manzanate, undeniably! It's not just in green apple stuff, but once you sniff the chemical...all sour patch kids, all starburst, all Skittles, etc are tainted with the green apple aroma, as are most "fresh" or "citrusy" mid range perfumes. Manzanate: a world of contrasts. Also now I have a bottle of chemical reeking up my deck that I'll never use, since I hate it now. ;(
posted by zinful at 3:30 PM on February 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
When i first got into hardcore parfumery, I bought a pile of weird ass chemicals for flavor and perfumery use. Manzanate is wild, y all. When I first sniffed it (less carefully than I should have I admit) it was a crazy bouquet of citrus and green growing things and a bite of..something deliciously yet disgustingly familiar. Couldn't place it, blew my nose out for days from my foolishness, decided to shelve it for later (coincidentally in favor of blackcurrant accord, but that's a whole other box of kittens)...
Later that month I was viciously fooled by a bottle of Perrier which appeared plain at the shop but was in fact Green Fucking Apple (a nightmare at the best of times, but particularly when you want some Damnit, Fancy Drinkable Water). The second I opened it I realized that it has a hearty inclusion of Manzanate, undeniably! It's not just in green apple stuff, but once you sniff the chemical...all sour patch kids, all starburst, all Skittles, etc are tainted with the green apple aroma, as are most "fresh" or "citrusy" mid range perfumes. Manzanate: a world of contrasts. Also now I have a bottle of chemical reeking up my deck that I'll never use, since I hate it now. ;(
posted by zinful at 3:30 PM on February 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
Isn't 'not liking to see photoshopped human parts' just body horror? If trypophobia is only disconcerting when it's holes in humans that should not be there, we already have a pretty good idea what that is driven by.
posted by Merus at 3:33 PM on February 20, 2018
posted by Merus at 3:33 PM on February 20, 2018
if I'm understanding zingiberene's excellent comment correctly, body horror is the taste and trypophobia is the flavor
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:41 PM on February 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:41 PM on February 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
for me, at least, it's not just holes in humans, it's holes, full stop -- small, regularly-spaced holes. examples include honeycomb, the above-mentioned effect where tubed pastas like penne/ziti/macaroni will clump together, certain types of mesh, certain types of coral, lotus pods... all things which are meant to have holes in them, but at which i do not like to look.
posted by halation at 3:55 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by halation at 3:55 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Same here, I've even had it triggered by ferro-magnetic fluid patterns so it's not just organic things. It can be really random -- empty wasp's nests don't bother me particularly, but there was a textured vase at a local Chinese restaurant that used to make me cringe.
posted by tavella at 4:08 PM on February 20, 2018
posted by tavella at 4:08 PM on February 20, 2018
The hole thing utterly mystifies me, but then I also discovered that ASMR videos do bupkis to me so maybe it is related. I did have a mild freakout once visiting an arboretum where they had a gigantic plant that was basically the same as one of my mom's houseplants. Seeing it at that scale for some reason disturbed me deeply. So I sorta get the giant sunflower fear.
posted by emjaybee at 5:30 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by emjaybee at 5:30 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
are you trying to tell me that hydrophobic materials don't repel water by the colony of molecules collectively pushing and kicking the water away while shrieking in terror ?
posted by LeviQayin at 7:23 PM on February 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by LeviQayin at 7:23 PM on February 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
"it's not just holes in humans, it's holes, full stop"
Same here. I was never comfortable calling it a phobia because I don't get a "fear" reaction, but I get this urge to claw my skin raw whenever I see clusters of holes. I have no idea why.
Usually I just close my eyes, take deep breaths, and imagine a minimalist and calming picture, like a flat lake, or the sensation of my hands on glass. That helps a lot.
posted by Tarumba at 7:25 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Same here. I was never comfortable calling it a phobia because I don't get a "fear" reaction, but I get this urge to claw my skin raw whenever I see clusters of holes. I have no idea why.
Usually I just close my eyes, take deep breaths, and imagine a minimalist and calming picture, like a flat lake, or the sensation of my hands on glass. That helps a lot.
posted by Tarumba at 7:25 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Huh. Today I learned two things. The weird feeling I get looking at holes is A THING, and Americans don't have Ribena or black currant fruitella.
posted by Valancy Rachel at 7:40 PM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Valancy Rachel at 7:40 PM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
Peep Show's "McCoy's, Ribena and a Twirl" : total gibberish to Americans
posted by scose at 8:11 PM on February 20, 2018
posted by scose at 8:11 PM on February 20, 2018
Skittles are just wrong from the start. They look like Smarties but contain nothing even vaguely resembling chocolate.
The brightly coloured food pellets are a lie.
posted by flabdablet at 8:28 PM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
The brightly coloured food pellets are a lie.
posted by flabdablet at 8:28 PM on February 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
Skittles after they replaced lime with green apple
...and when the fuck did this happen...?!
God I haven't had Skittles in a long time huh
posted by dubitable at 8:37 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
...and when the fuck did this happen...?!
God I haven't had Skittles in a long time huh
posted by dubitable at 8:37 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Descartes much?
René Descartes was a drunken fart.
posted by bendy at 10:18 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
René Descartes was a drunken fart.
posted by bendy at 10:18 PM on February 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I also do not like holes! I think it looks like decaying flesh from maggots are going to crawl out, or a swarm of insects. If a particularly bad image sneaks up on me I will scream and run away.
I've gotten over this enough to eat lotus root and bake no-knead bread, but I am still not going to click on the article.
posted by batter_my_heart at 10:40 PM on February 20, 2018
I've gotten over this enough to eat lotus root and bake no-knead bread, but I am still not going to click on the article.
posted by batter_my_heart at 10:40 PM on February 20, 2018
Yeah, trypophobia isn't just about diseased flesh. When I was very young, my sister and I used to stab holes in sheets of paper with a pencil to freak me out. And last year I was stuck in traffic when the person in front of me merged out of my lane to reveal a truck that was carrying in its bed a huge stack of pipes, their ends facing me. Just a massive wall of black holes of varying sizes - and lengths, so some were more recessed than the others, making them appear to be holes in the wall of holes. It was horrifying! I'll never forget it. The closest I've been to feeling suddenly under attack by holes. I was able to escape onto a side street pretty quickly, thank goodness.
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 1:23 AM on February 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 1:23 AM on February 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
The hole thing utterly mystifies me, but then I also discovered that ASMR videos do bupkis to me so maybe it is related.
ASMR videos work on me, or at least some of them do... but not only do I have no issue with holes, I actually find repetitive patterns like that rather pleasing and soothing. The giant sunflower is amazing!
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:48 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
ASMR videos work on me, or at least some of them do... but not only do I have no issue with holes, I actually find repetitive patterns like that rather pleasing and soothing. The giant sunflower is amazing!
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:48 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
I do not normally think of myself as a trypophobe, but yesterday was the first time I gave the cover of the seminal 1995 album Tragic Kingdom anything more than the most superficial of glances. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the gag is that it's supposed to look like an old-timey ad for a lush orange orchard, but the orchard is dead and the oranges are rotten and fly-blown. Specifically, they have holes where the flies got in.
Reader, I was shook.
posted by zeusianfog at 9:49 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Reader, I was shook.
posted by zeusianfog at 9:49 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Some people are even fearful of going to the dentist.
Wait, wait. Some people aren't?
posted by Splunge at 10:32 AM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
Wait, wait. Some people aren't?
posted by Splunge at 10:32 AM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
Yeah, disgust or horror seem like the best words to describe the sensation to me, rather than fear. Cell division and some types of mold set me off, and I’ll die happy if I never see lotus boob or that fucking frog ever again. They make me want to vomit and scratch my skin off.
posted by harriet vane at 6:30 AM on February 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by harriet vane at 6:30 AM on February 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
I might add that I don't particularly care if there are any neat-o math patterns in the gaping maw of hell
posted by thelonius at 7:32 AM on February 22, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 7:32 AM on February 22, 2018 [4 favorites]
« Older “an endless war without boundaries, no limitation... | Missouri Fought For Years To Hide Where It Got Its... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by tobascodagama at 8:53 AM on February 20, 2018 [7 favorites]