How Facebook is saving snakes. Ok, well, ostensibly this article is about snakes and Facebook -- turns out Facebook is good for something, who knew? -- but the part that struck me was the part about nightmares.

"Allison Hollier, 56, a geographic information systems analyst in Burleson, Tex., had nightmares every night for the six weeks that a six-foot broad-banded water snake (Nerodia fasciata, nonvenomous) occupied her koi pond before she could have it relocated. Then she joined the North Texas group at a friend's suggestion, and her snake dreams became 'nonexistent,' she says. The desensitization and understanding she gained by looking at the page every day 'does work,' she says. 'I'm living proof.'"

"'I've felt that fear and fascination are kind of tied together in the human psyche, kind of the same thing,' herpetologist Mark Pyle says based on his experiences with people who are scared of snakes. 'If you put the knowledge there, that turns fear into fascination.'"

So, to summarize what we just read, unknown + threatening == nightmares. And apparently, even if you don't change the "threatening" part of the equation, changing the "unknown" part of the equation can get nightmares to go away.

How Facebook is saving snakes

#facebook #snakes #psychology #nightmares