Phunny Phobias
If you met someone who was afraid of paper or wax statues, wouldn't you tell them to stop being so ridiculous and get over it? Every Monday, Null editor Hayley hand-picks another bizarre phobia and tries to work out whether it's real or rubbish.
This week:
Koniophobia: fear of dust
What's so scary about it?
Well that all depends on whether we're talking about top of the mantle piece-type dust, cosmic dust or "Fat Fighters" (low-in-fat) dust. I'll assume, for the purposes of Phunny Phobias, that we're talking top of the mantle piece, because we'll start getting into all sorts of bother if we go down one of the other routes. So, millions of your own dead skin particles floating around the house... what's scary about that?
What do the scientists say about it?
Surprisingly, very little. Which doesn't make any sense. Surely there have to be a stack of clean freaks out there who are terrified of the stuff? I had koniophobia down as a dead cert - how disappointing.
Hayley says:
"I'd just like to remind everyone that 80 per cent of your household dust is actually dead skin - you lose between five and ten grams of it a week. The rest is probably dust mite droppings. Dust, anyone? Come on, you must be scared now. Oh, sod the scientists, I reckon it's Real."
So far: Real 18 Rubbish 18
Find phunny phobias from other weeks here.
Null's other regular features:
Tuesday: Nutty Nomenclature
Wednesday: Doctor Doctor
Thursday: Peculiar Periodicals
Friday: End of week timewasters
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