Reason we fear Cockroach??

I personally interested in a post-nuclearwar animal such as cockroach.
I am one of people who fear it,not because it will kill me,but I just fear it.

Cockroaches don't do any risky thing to you,but even you know this.
You still fear them!?

I asked many people what they fear,answers are always included Cockroach.

So,I am curious,why you fear Cockroach?
Fear of
-Its color?
-Its shape?
-Its pattern?
-Its legs?
-...
And why you fear its color or shape or...?
That is my question.

My doubt is maybe Cockroach did something to human in the beginning of human race.
It's may be the reason why the basic human stimulation has to avoids the appearance of this creature.


Do you have any myth about it?

They can cause disease, so if there's any inbred fear of them, it's probably from that.

Plus they're just nasty

I don't see what this has to do with cryptozoology and i think it would do better on BTS, but i think people fear the cockroach because:

It's an insect

They can carry disease

They can survive without their head for a while, but i've seen a chicken do that too.

They are (at least in more tropical regions) very large bugs, and that creeps people out more.

Some of them hiss.

They don't look like they would taste very good.

They have those really long antennae.

Some of them can fly, and a flying insect will usually freak people out.

The Movie Men In Black with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.

People are psychologically disturbed by things which we can't relate to. The less human something is, the scarier we find it, its a technique used in films a lot.

When something is completely different from us, it makes us feel weird, for seemingly no reason.

It's not for no reason, it's perfectly understandable. We make friends and form communities based primarily on appearance - we always have. There are, of course, lots of other factors, but sight is very important to us the first time we come across someone. Most if not all species have developed ways to recognize members of their own species quickly, to prevent being eaten by a mimic, and of course to avoid the awkwardness of breeding with the wrong species. It takes an act of will, a conscious sublimation of instinct to break those barriers.

It's a survival mechanism to protect us. Taken to the extreme, it's unhealthy xenophobia.

All that said, I'm from New York city originally, and we have some of the nastiest cockroaches in the civilized world. Top ten, anyway. Rats too - unbelievable how big some of the rats get...

I despise cockroaches (and rats). I've seen some enormous freakin' rats in the subway tunnels, by the water in the park, and in basements. Gigantic things - disgusting harbingers of disease and filth. Garbage-eaters, like the roaches.

We despise them because the sight of them is a visual cue that disease might be present. As I said, it's a survival mechanism.

Not entirely logical, but based in logic at least. It's a good bet that your girlfriend's mouth harbors as many bacteria as the roach, but we don't think like that because it doesn't make any sense to squish your girlfriend. You squish your girlfriend to protect yourself against bacteria and you've lost more than you've gained. You squish a roach and you've lost nothing, but gained some small measure of safety.

On the subject of roaches, check out the book The Roaches Have No King by Daniel Evan Weiss - it's a fun read. The protagonist is a cockroach. It's an ingenious and engaging satire, I enjoyed it anyway. It was also published in the UK and elsewhere (Australia, I think) under the title Unnatural Selection.