Quote:
Originally Posted by Riley.
Surely phobia implies that this is a innate fear rather than a radicalisation? Evolution instill phobias in us to protect us from harmful things / situations.
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It's a misnomer though; the term "phobia" is quite commonly misused these days. A phobia is an irrational fear
when the truth is actually known, i.e. being afraid of something even though you, yourself, rationally know that it is not dangerous.
Things like homophobia / Islamophobia aren't accurately "phobias". Even though, objectively, the fear is irrational... for the subject, they are basing their fear on their true beliefs and often on misinformation that they, nonetheless, think is accurate... meaning that subjectively the fear is
not irrational and therefore not a phobia.