marchofprogress Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 At one of the previous HHNs I saw a guy on stilts dressed as a tree, leaning against a tree. I saw him scare this one girl, whose response was to fall down on the ground immediately (ie, it was a reflex). It got me thinking about evolution... That is, I think, something that can't really fit into evolutionary development because if an animal did that it would be Food. There are lots of animals that play dead, and there's even a species of goat that does the same thing when threatened: they just fall down. Only thing is, she was screaming, so ... Not playing dead. Lots of other examples defy evolution.... But then when me and my Lady Friend went Sunday she actually shrieked a little at one point (read my ridiculously long review for details). I didn't think anybody who was sober and not totally nuts would scream. While her sanity is questionable, she definitely wasn't drunk. And that, too, was entirely reflex. It made me think that I can't conceive of any circumstance at all which involves me screaming like that. So I asked all my millions/half dozen friends if they've ever been to HHN and screamed, or if they could see it happening under *any* circumstance. All girls said yes, all guys said no. I think I can verify that from my own personal observations : I don't think I've ever heard a guy scream at HHN. I certainly haven't. I figure maybe its an evolutionary thing, like ... females scream to get help. Each scare/startle ignites our fight or flight instinct. I think screaming is the ultimate in flight - desire to run away so strong that the person is glued to the spot and instead screams. THEN I realized that I would be infinitely more likely to fight than fly in nearly all cases. I get the instinct to push/punch scareactors all the time ... I never have done either but still. Never close to screaming. And I asked my giant circle of friends again and all the guys agreed, all the girls disagreed. This is interesting to me, and I figured You People who are also obsessed with HHN may have some insight. Thoughts? What's the strangest response you've seen/had in response to a scare/startle, from an evolutionary standpoint or otherwise ? Mine's definitely the girl falling down on the ground screaming - from both perspectives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinderelly115 Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 Plenty of guys scream.. a lot of guys just won't admit to it. I have seen grown men run, crawl out of a house, and scream. So it definitely isn't just a female thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foREVer56 Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 (edited) yea im a 15 yr old guy and ive screamed plenty of times. i havent shreiked and ran out of a house, but i scream all the time, many times in pretty much every house(DE, NOES, SnS, Poe to name a few).i certainly havent fallen on the ground and got into a fetal position;) also, i scream for fun. i dont scream because im scared, just when i get startled from jumping out at me. then theres the times when i get really good scares and i jump a little Edited October 10, 2011 by foREVer56 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbriar246 Posted October 9, 2011 Share Posted October 9, 2011 I am not starting some debate here, but I just so you know, I do not believe in evolution, so this is coming from a different viewpoint. Guys scream too, but not as often, and when they do, they usually don't admit it. Girls tend to scream more because a) they are weaker then men and have a stronger instinct to call for help/ alert other people and they have been told their whole lives that it is the appropriate and feminine thing to do to scream when scared. Guys are stronger and so have been 'made' to confront threats and have been told that it is the masculine thing to do to hide fear and protect females. Guys will still scream, but in my experience, they have to be much more frightened before they do. Basically, when the threat becomes to big for them to handle alone. So personally, I believe that it is a blend of natural instinct and society's 'rules' on gender. By the way, these are just generalizations, I know that not every guy or girl reacts this way. I don't scream unless I'm having fun; when I'm scared I tend to freeze up. I'm also not a scientist, so I could be totally off the mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marchofprogress Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 I am not starting some debate here, but I just so you know, I do not believe in evolution, so this is coming from a different viewpoint. Guys scream too, but not as often, and when they do, they usually don't admit it. Girls tend to scream more because a) they are weaker then men and have a stronger instinct to call for help/ alert other people and they have been told their whole lives that it is the appropriate and feminine thing to do to scream when scared. Guys are stronger and so have been 'made' to confront threats and have been told that it is the masculine thing to do to hide fear and protect females. Guys will still scream, but in my experience, they have to be much more frightened before they do. Basically, when the threat becomes to big for them to handle alone. So personally, I believe that it is a blend of natural instinct and society's 'rules' on gender. By the way, these are just generalizations, I know that not every guy or girl reacts this way. I don't scream unless I'm having fun; when I'm scared I tend to freeze up. I'm also not a scientist, so I could be totally off the mark. Obviously this is all speculation. But I still think the examples you provided arent outside the theory. In all cases, it's to alert others, I think. I've probably been to HHN50 times and never seen a man scream. What'd you scream at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweeneys Emo Kid Megz Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 I've seen plenty of guys scream, and plenty of girls not scream. I think it's completely personal to the individual's experiences, mindset, etc. I don't think it's a gender issue, I think it's an experiential one. Some people have experienced things (whether or not they remember they did) which subconsciously causes the fear. Why they react the way they do is just their nervous system's way of handling it. Granted, some people scream just to scream, but for the legitimate "I cannot control myself" screamers, that's why. The screaming is a stress reliever for some people and fear is a type of stress on the body. I'm a screamer, and at the end of the night (for HHN) I can never explain why I freaked out so much and why I did scream. Depends on the person I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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