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I agree that trypophobia is more than just a social contagion. I personally had physical reactions of disgust and an unusual desire to destroy Lotus seed pods

I agree that trypophobia is more than just a social contagion. I personally had physical reactions of disgust and an unusual desire to destroy Lotus seed pods the first time I saw them. I wanted to put them on the cement and smash and grind them with my shoe until they were a fine paste. This was before I had ever heard the word "trypophobia". The only thing in nature I've found to trigger me is Lotus seed pods. Unlike your example of the doctored images, there is nothing objectively gross about seed pods, they are a natural part of a healthy and harmless plant. Call it morbid curiosity, but I will sometimes browse /r/trypophobia and I get the same feelings there, but never worse than simply viewing a seed pod.

nneonneo 7y ago
FWIW, lotus seeds can be eaten straight out of the pod; I spent many a summer peeling apart the pods and eating the seeds as a kid. Maybe that’s why I don’t have trypophobia? I see those pictures and just think about the tasty seeds inside...
TeMPOraL 7y ago
> Lotus seed pods Should've read the rest of your comment before googling that. I didn't expect as strong a reaction as I just had upon seeing those. Deeply unsettling.
- booleandilemma 7y ago
  I’m curious to Google it and at the same time afraid...
  - Buttons840 7y ago
    Don't be afraid. It is a plant. A green-leaf garden variety plant. The seed pod is harmless, even if its shape is unsettling.
- scruple 7y ago
  The small, oval shaped lakes that you can find littering satellite imagery of northern Siberia, northern Alaska, etc... Those are where I first discovered that these sorts of pictures induce anxiety in me and that there's even a name for it. Unsettling is a good word to describe the feeling it elicits.
hnick 7y ago
I wouldn't always call it a phobia, they look unnerving to me too. The way I've always interpreted it is that it looks like and reminds us of an infected pimple/abscess/parasite/something growing under the skin where it shouldn't be, coupled with enough empathy or imagination to picture it happening to us. The natural reaction is then disgust and aversion. It's just a result of the way our brains are built, similar to seeing faces where they don't exist. I'm pretty sure I've seen a lotus seed pod in real life and didn't have a reaction, since it's much easier to construct a mental image of what it really is instead of what it might be.
- executesorder66 7y ago
  Interesting. I would call it a phobia, because after looking up images of lotus seed pods, I had no reaction to it at all. I can see how someone would associate it with an insect nest or something, but it doesn't bother me at all.

nneonneo 7y ago

FWIW, lotus seeds can be eaten straight out of the pod; I spent many a summer peeling apart the pods and eating the seeds as a kid. Maybe that’s why I don’t have trypophobia? I see those pictures and just think about the tasty seeds inside...

TeMPOraL 7y ago

> Lotus seed pods Should've read the rest of your comment before googling that. I didn't expect as strong a reaction as I just had upon seeing those. Deeply unsettling.

booleandilemma 7y ago
I’m curious to Google it and at the same time afraid...
- Buttons840 7y ago
  Don't be afraid. It is a plant. A green-leaf garden variety plant. The seed pod is harmless, even if its shape is unsettling.
scruple 7y ago
The small, oval shaped lakes that you can find littering satellite imagery of northern Siberia, northern Alaska, etc... Those are where I first discovered that these sorts of pictures induce anxiety in me and that there's even a name for it. Unsettling is a good word to describe the feeling it elicits.

hnick 7y ago

I wouldn't always call it a phobia, they look unnerving to me too. The way I've always interpreted it is that it looks like and reminds us of an infected pimple/abscess/parasite/something growing under the skin where it shouldn't be, coupled with enough empathy or imagination to picture it happening to us. The natural reaction is then disgust and aversion. It's just a result of the way our brains are built, similar to seeing faces where they don't exist. I'm pretty sure I've seen a lotus seed pod in real life and didn't have a reaction, since it's much easier to construct a mental image of what it really is instead of what it might be.

executesorder66 7y ago
Interesting. I would call it a phobia, because after looking up images of lotus seed pods, I had no reaction to it at all. I can see how someone would associate it with an insect nest or something, but it doesn't bother me at all.