I’m pretty sure at some point we’ve all cringed, wrinkled
our noses or had the involuntary “EWE!” slip out at some point in our lives
when we’ve seen something gross. Of
course depending on what it is depends on your next reaction which may range
from complete revulsion to fascination.
When it comes to blood, guts and gore (or pus) I tend to weigh in on
the fascination side. I’ve always been
the person to look closer at what is grossing others out, even if we’re dealing
with a dead animal on the side of the road.
Bugs, insects and most rodents are another story.
A recently published study in
Philosophical Transactions (The Royal Society) by Val Curtis and Mícheál
de Barra sought to determine if in fact disgust evolved to protect us from
disease and if we can still rely on our instinctual reaction of disgust
to help us from getting sick. Curtis and
de Bara recruited 2,500 participants of which two-thirds were women with an
average age of 28. The study participants read brief descriptions of 75
potentially revolting scenarios they might encounter in a day rating them from
“No Disgust” to “Extreme Disgust”. Curtis and de Barra were then able to develop and sort the responses
into six common categories of disgust "cues" such as poor hygiene;
animals/insects that bring disease; promiscuous sex; body deformities or
behavioral irregularity (e.g. coughing or homelessness); lesions, blisters,
boils or pus; and spoiled food.
While the results of the study
may not have correlated to disease per say, they did seem to reflect the types
of things and people that should be avoiding in order to not catch something
infectious. The participants knew to
avoid objects, skin lesions, spoilt food, individuals with poor hygiene and
promiscuous sexual practices. While a
feeling of disgust does not allow us to “see” pathogens, the study does provide
further evidence that when we feel disgust it in does indeed correlate with
staying away from something potentially infectious.
Which leads me to my fascination
with lesions, blisters, boils, pus, blood, guts and gore….. Inwardly I may say “ewe”, but man do I like a
good close up and investigation of what everyone else may think as being
gross!
What way do you lean?
Bugging Off!
Nicole