Phobias are one of those things that always make great dinner table conversation.

You may find that half the guests are terrified of clowns or even of sitting down.

Today, we've got a roundup of 15 of the most common phobias that are surprisingly unusual,

and most importantly, we'll talk about why our brains evolved these silly fears.

Freaky phobias are today on Skeptoid.

You're listening to Skeptoid. I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.

15 Freaky Phobias. What makes a phobia? It's perfectly rational to prefer not to

perch dangerously on the edge of a perilous cliff, and it's only common sense to avoid the bite of a

snake. But some of us take it a step further, experiencing acute symptoms of anxiety when exposed

to certain threats, even when we're actually safe. We can be on a perfectly safe railed walkway

that's high in the air, or the snake can be behind glass, but we still get the full physiological

reaction. Fight or flight kicks in, anxiety increased metabolism, adrenaline and dopamine.

Peripheral vision turns to tunnel vision, and the mind becomes clear and focused on escaping

the object of your phobia. Trauma from past events is the main cause of most phobias,

but some researchers also believe heredity may play a role, the eternal nature versus nurture

debate. The nurture component triggers a conditioned response to stimulus. Here are 15

Freaky Phobias, and what we know of them. Number 1, Arachnophobia, Fear of Spiders.

Why is it that even a tiny toddler with no previous spider experience will recoil in terror

from a tiny cute little animal that can't possibly pose any threat? Some have speculated

that Arachnophobia is an evolutionary adaptation. Individuals who lacked the fear were

spider-venombed to death more often enough that their genes eventually became expressed less often.

Others have pointed out that the actual threat from spiders has never been substantial enough

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