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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-49660765?
Honestly? Where is all this madness going to end?
Honestly? Where is all this madness going to end?
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All they have to do is cover them with black tape !
Trypophobia is the fear of holes - a condition that scientists at the University of Essex believe nearly 20% of people might have. But could the phobia, in which sufferers are put into a cold sweat by aerated chocolate, be explained by a latent fear of deadly animals?
Dr Geoff Cole was 13 years old when he had his first trypophobic episode.
He was at school in a metal working class when a friend drilled holes in a ten pence piece.
He turned to Geoff and showed him the perforated coin - a sight that made him feel nauseous. So much so that he had to sit down.
He is now a vision scientist working in the centre for brain science at the University of Essex.
The office next door belongs to Professor Arnold Wilkins, one of the world's leading experts in visual stress.
Prof Wilkins had never heard of trypophobia until Dr Cole told him what it was, and that he had the phobia.
Trypophobic images
Image caption
Prof Wilkins says knowing why poisonous organisms use trypophobic patterns would be an exciting research area
For trypophobes, the sight of clusters of holes in various formations can cause unpleasant reactions - from discomfort to debilitating panic attacks, hot sweats and an increased heart rate.
But holes are not the problem. The cause of trypophobia lies in the brain's understanding of what it is seeing.
In the case of aerated chocolate or a cheese grater, the brain is seeing high contrasts between light and dark repeated a certain number of times within a given field of view.
Before Dr Cole and Prof Wilkins published their paper, there had been little scientific investigation into the condition.
Publication of the paper garnered a good deal of media attention, most of it focused purely on the existence of the condition.
Of less interest, said Dr Cole, were its findings as to a possible explanation of the phobia.
"A big clue to this came from a trypophobic person I know who visited and said they had found a trypophobic animal - the blue ringed octopus," said Dr Cole. "I went to Prof Wilkins and said we needed to analyse poisonous animals.
Less common phobias
model of head
Image caption
model of head
Phobias are the most common type of anxiety disorder. In the UK, an estimated 10 million people have phobias. Here are some of the more unusual phobias:
Coulrophobia: the fear of clowns
Pogonophobia: the fear of beards
Ombrophobia: the fear of rain
Anthophobia: the fear of flowers
"One part of the brain sees, say a seed pod of a flower. But another part of the brain says I've done spectral analysis and that's a poisonous animal, you need to be careful.
"It doesn't matter that our rational side knows, the fact is the other side of the brain is winning.
"We all know that flying is the safest form of travel but that just doesn't win for some people when they're taking. Trypophobia is a lot like that."
So what is happening inside the tryphobic brain when it sees soap bubbles or a cheese grater?
"Well," said Dr Cole, "Prof Wilkins and I took trypophobic images and broke them down into their fundamental units meaningful to the visual system, things like wavelength of light, contrasts, edges, lines - the building blocks with which we see the world.
"We found that the images had a particular visual signature and when you analyse images with certain spatial frequencies you find that images from the natural world have a particular visual signature which can be represented on a graph.
"But trypophobic images have got a different signature on the graph.
"Their defining signature is high contrast at mid range spatial frequencies. This means the images tend to contrast between dark and light about three times per centimetre at arms lengths.
"Images in the natural world just don't have this characteristic apart from one class of objects and that's dangerous animals."
blue ringed octopus
Image caption
The deadly blue ringed octopus sparked the idea that dangerous animals and trypophobic images might be linked
Dr Cole says trypophobia may well be "the most common phobia people have never heard of".
"We determined that about 17 or 18% of the population had trypophobia - we worked that out from showing people a mix of trypophobic and other images and asked how they felt viewing them.
"What we really think is that everybody is trypophobic, but it is just a matter of degree, rather like autism.
Prof Arnold Wilkins
We are using what we have learned about discomfort from images in a whole variety of different contexts - in architecture and in the treatment of headache
Professor Arnold Wilkins, University of Essex
"There are a range of images that induce an aversion. But most often they feature a cluster of holes when looked at from reading distance are about two or three mm wide clustered together.
"The most common example is the lotus seed pod. The head is full of holes. Its the one image people really don't like.
"It's a flower so it should be nice. But to many people it just isn't nice."
The impact of a trypophobic experience can be severe. Dr Cole has come across people so distressed by seeing something that they have been off work for two days.
That degree of distress is something Dr Cole says he too has felt.
But immersing himself in his study of trypophobia - and the various images he has asked others to gaze at - Dr Cole believes he is, if not 'cured', at least de-sensitized.
Although he still understands why certain images are trypophobic, he finds them less so now.
Prof Wilkins has subjected trypophobic images to mathematical scrutiny and says he can now predict with a degree of accuracy which images will generate a trypophobic response.
"We now know why the images are uncomfortable," said Professor Arnold Wilkins. "We are not quite sure why it is that poisonous animals use these characteristics.
"That's an another exciting avenue of research."
Trypophobia is the fear of holes - a condition that scientists at the University of Essex believe nearly 20% of people might have. But could the phobia, in which sufferers are put into a cold sweat by aerated chocolate, be explained by a latent fear of deadly animals?
Dr Geoff Cole was 13 years old when he had his first trypophobic episode.
He was at school in a metal working class when a friend drilled holes in a ten pence piece.
He turned to Geoff and showed him the perforated coin - a sight that made him feel nauseous. So much so that he had to sit down.
He is now a vision scientist working in the centre for brain science at the University of Essex.
The office next door belongs to Professor Arnold Wilkins, one of the world's leading experts in visual stress.
Prof Wilkins had never heard of trypophobia until Dr Cole told him what it was, and that he had the phobia.
Trypophobic images
Image caption
Prof Wilkins says knowing why poisonous organisms use trypophobic patterns would be an exciting research area
For trypophobes, the sight of clusters of holes in various formations can cause unpleasant reactions - from discomfort to debilitating panic attacks, hot sweats and an increased heart rate.
But holes are not the problem. The cause of trypophobia lies in the brain's understanding of what it is seeing.
In the case of aerated chocolate or a cheese grater, the brain is seeing high contrasts between light and dark repeated a certain number of times within a given field of view.
Before Dr Cole and Prof Wilkins published their paper, there had been little scientific investigation into the condition.
Publication of the paper garnered a good deal of media attention, most of it focused purely on the existence of the condition.
Of less interest, said Dr Cole, were its findings as to a possible explanation of the phobia.
"A big clue to this came from a trypophobic person I know who visited and said they had found a trypophobic animal - the blue ringed octopus," said Dr Cole. "I went to Prof Wilkins and said we needed to analyse poisonous animals.
Less common phobias
model of head
Image caption
model of head
Phobias are the most common type of anxiety disorder. In the UK, an estimated 10 million people have phobias. Here are some of the more unusual phobias:
Coulrophobia: the fear of clowns
Pogonophobia: the fear of beards
Ombrophobia: the fear of rain
Anthophobia: the fear of flowers
"One part of the brain sees, say a seed pod of a flower. But another part of the brain says I've done spectral analysis and that's a poisonous animal, you need to be careful.
"It doesn't matter that our rational side knows, the fact is the other side of the brain is winning.
"We all know that flying is the safest form of travel but that just doesn't win for some people when they're taking. Trypophobia is a lot like that."
So what is happening inside the tryphobic brain when it sees soap bubbles or a cheese grater?
"Well," said Dr Cole, "Prof Wilkins and I took trypophobic images and broke them down into their fundamental units meaningful to the visual system, things like wavelength of light, contrasts, edges, lines - the building blocks with which we see the world.
"We found that the images had a particular visual signature and when you analyse images with certain spatial frequencies you find that images from the natural world have a particular visual signature which can be represented on a graph.
"But trypophobic images have got a different signature on the graph.
"Their defining signature is high contrast at mid range spatial frequencies. This means the images tend to contrast between dark and light about three times per centimetre at arms lengths.
"Images in the natural world just don't have this characteristic apart from one class of objects and that's dangerous animals."
blue ringed octopus
Image caption
The deadly blue ringed octopus sparked the idea that dangerous animals and trypophobic images might be linked
Dr Cole says trypophobia may well be "the most common phobia people have never heard of".
"We determined that about 17 or 18% of the population had trypophobia - we worked that out from showing people a mix of trypophobic and other images and asked how they felt viewing them.
"What we really think is that everybody is trypophobic, but it is just a matter of degree, rather like autism.
Prof Arnold Wilkins
We are using what we have learned about discomfort from images in a whole variety of different contexts - in architecture and in the treatment of headache
Professor Arnold Wilkins, University of Essex
"There are a range of images that induce an aversion. But most often they feature a cluster of holes when looked at from reading distance are about two or three mm wide clustered together.
"The most common example is the lotus seed pod. The head is full of holes. Its the one image people really don't like.
"It's a flower so it should be nice. But to many people it just isn't nice."
The impact of a trypophobic experience can be severe. Dr Cole has come across people so distressed by seeing something that they have been off work for two days.
That degree of distress is something Dr Cole says he too has felt.
But immersing himself in his study of trypophobia - and the various images he has asked others to gaze at - Dr Cole believes he is, if not 'cured', at least de-sensitized.
Although he still understands why certain images are trypophobic, he finds them less so now.
Prof Wilkins has subjected trypophobic images to mathematical scrutiny and says he can now predict with a degree of accuracy which images will generate a trypophobic response.
"We now know why the images are uncomfortable," said Professor Arnold Wilkins. "We are not quite sure why it is that poisonous animals use these characteristics.
"That's an another exciting avenue of research."
The BBC must have a 'victim department' who troll the internet daily looking for various saps.
I have this
Though calling it a phobia is a bit far, its mildly disgusting.
Its only been given a name since 2005 but Ive always had it and could never explain it to people
If I see bees in hexangonal hives or baked beans in those square gaps in potato waffles it puts me about.
I have my own explanation for it. I believe its intrinsic with seeing things break down and seeing the lattice behind the facade of things, essentially a methaphor of death and decay
Though calling it a phobia is a bit far, its mildly disgusting.
Its only been given a name since 2005 but Ive always had it and could never explain it to people
If I see bees in hexangonal hives or baked beans in those square gaps in potato waffles it puts me about.
I have my own explanation for it. I believe its intrinsic with seeing things break down and seeing the lattice behind the facade of things, essentially a methaphor of death and decay
I once came off my skateboard as a kid and got gravel stuck in my hands and it's image left a greater effect than the pain of the falling off
Its very difficult to explain to people
Its very difficult to explain to people
It’s not even that crazy, it’s really a defence mechanism to be naturally repulsed by certain patterns.
It’s what keeps us alive in the face of plague and disease.
All women and some very fickle men wear make up to try and appear ‘attractive’ by covering up blemishes or fake tan to look healthy. It’s the same thing. The odd spot doesn’t suggest pox, but in sequence a rash signifies something more contagious.
It’s what the stoics might have called ‘intuitionism’ (intrinsic knowledge that gets passed down)
People who don’t have this are probably only here more by luck than judgement.
It’s what keeps us alive in the face of plague and disease.
All women and some very fickle men wear make up to try and appear ‘attractive’ by covering up blemishes or fake tan to look healthy. It’s the same thing. The odd spot doesn’t suggest pox, but in sequence a rash signifies something more contagious.
It’s what the stoics might have called ‘intuitionism’ (intrinsic knowledge that gets passed down)
People who don’t have this are probably only here more by luck than judgement.
Why would only women and gayers wear make up to cover signs of pox, but not the majority of men? Sounds a bit thin to me.
They don’t have the pox, they just want to be attractive, so cover up anything that is a visual symptom of looking ill.
Disease gives off signals and we as humans are prone to recognise them.
Disease gives off signals and we as humans are prone to recognise them.
The one that gets me is lotus flower seed heads. They literally make me want to scratch all over. And that image you sometimes see on social media where someone has been kneeling on a load of dried peas.
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