Your phobias

[Acies]

No, I'm sure it's genetic. Animals who were not disgusted by signs of illness in potential mating partners had less healthy children and were at an evolutionary disadvantage.

Knowledge can't be Inherit trough genes. However. Certain types of behaviors can. Such as disgust to certain odors like the smell of putrefaction.

For example: Lets imagine a group of an unnamed animal, that finds the carcase of a different species. the group split into two. One side there were the ones who were attracted to the smell, and the other side was the ones who were repulsed by the same. Because the group A didn't mind about the smell (that was an indicator that they couldn't digest it) of a dead animal. They ate it. Soon after all of them died from food poisoning. therefore. group B will in the future have more babies that more likely will be repulsed by the smell that dead animals release. and therefore they will more likely survive and have more offspring of their own who are repulsed by the smell as well. and so on and on.


This "evolutionary" behaviors. could in fact explain a lot of things from our times.
For example paranoid people. Nature does in fact reward animals for being paranoid. Imagine two chimps resting near a tree. Suddenly they both notice at the same time some tall grass moving. What could it be they ask them selfs? A lion?! or is it just the wind? One Immediately thinks its a Lion. So it climbs the tree as fast as it could. while the other stays behind thinking it just the wind. when in fact it was a Lion! So that chimp died. therefore the "paranoid" chimps will more likely survive longer and have more offspring than "brave" or chimps.

So its natural to understand why there are still so many nut jobs among us. Because they are still suffering from the "echo" of nature's once favored behavior.

Continuing on a random rant of thoughts..

The inheritance would be a genetic proneness to an increase in hormones/chemical reactions associated with fear, not any explicit type of fear. A person prone to fears/phobias would have a higher chance or risk to develope phobias.

I do not believe one can inherit any phobias. You can be prone to recieve phobias, but any explicit phobia cannot be linked to you genetically. I've heard or read somewhere that the only fear one is born with is the fear of heights and the fear of high-pitched/loud noises (this might be humbug - but I will go around believing it until proven otherwise).

As for nut-jobs and natural selection; many of today's genetic imperfections are due to the lack of natural selection. I'm not saying we should kill children born with genetical imperfections, but it can sometimes be fun to play with the thought of wheter someone who has trouble seeing past 10 meters would be able to survive on the savanna.