# Is it more pathetic to be afraid of ghosts or goats? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069 "2013-05-22T21:21:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/21 "2013-05-23T14:12:52Z")
I haven’t been kicked in the nads while milking a ghost. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/22 "2013-05-23T14:23:00Z")
Goats can be nasty and knock down little children Ghosts don’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/23 "2013-05-23T14:38:50Z")
Fear of goats is more pathetic, because ghosts don’t exist. If someone is afraid of ghosts, I need not pity them, because I know that they will never be confronted by that which they fear. Someone afraid of goats, however, just might be confronted by their fear, and so I pity them for that. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/24 "2013-05-23T15:02:57Z")
Dammit, I voted goats but meant to vote ghosts, and the stupid poll thing won’t let me change my answer. Anyway, goats are actual, real things than can and do occasionally cause physical harm. Ghosts, on the other hand, don’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/25 "2013-05-23T15:31:54Z")
Ghosts don’t exist, but fear of the unknown, unexplainable and uncontrollable is very powerful and built into our DNA. In that sense fear of ghosts or demons or dark doorways or whatever is a genetic mandate. But I voted ghost anyway, because c’mon - they don’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/26 "2013-05-23T16:08:30Z")
Wow. So you guys would, by a two to one margin, be more comfortable spending the night in a “haunted house” where a grisly murder or 3 took place, than walking into a goat pen? And you’d look down on someone who refused to spend the night in the house, over somebody who refused to go into a petting zoo with a goat? ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/27 "2013-05-23T16:28:22Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Wow. So you guys would, by a two to one margin, be more comfortable spending the night in a “haunted house” where a grisly murder or 3 took place, than walking into a goat pen? > > And you’d look down on someone who refused to spend the night in the house, over somebody who refused to go into a petting zoo with a goat? Your first paragraph doesn’t make any sense in the context of the poll. I wouldn’t look down on anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/28 "2013-05-23T16:41:51Z")
My wife is into some natural food fads, and I don’t always find myself as appreciative of her experimentation as I should perhaps be. Sometimes I find myself hoping dinner won’t be “too weird.” In other words, I’m afraid of [groats](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groats). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/29 "2013-05-23T16:52:28Z")
I would be most afraid to spend the night in a petting zoo pen where three grisly murders took place… committed by goats. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/30 "2013-05-23T17:09:20Z")
Just try and get ghost’s milk at your local supermarket. Just not there. Thankfully, a number of local witches hold a market nearby on Saturday mornings. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/31 "2013-05-23T17:16:44Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Your first paragraph doesn’t make any sense in the context of the poll. Unless respondents think of \*themselves \*as pathetic, I think it does. Why would you avoid spending the night in a “haunted” house where horrible murders happened, if not for fear of ghosts? ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/32 "2013-05-23T17:18:38Z")
Only posting to say that this is definitely in my top 5 favorite SDMB thread titles of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/33 "2013-05-23T17:48:00Z")
I wouldn’t say _pathetic_, but it’s certainly less rational and sillier to be afraid of ghosts, which don’t exist, than goats, which do, and are, in fact, genuinely dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/34 "2013-05-23T17:49:07Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > A goat stepped on my foot once and it hurt, so I know they have the potential to cause harm. > > Now if you ask me whether it’s more pathetic to be afraid of a goat or a toddler.. A toddler stepped on my foot once\*, so I know they have the potential to cause harm. (\*actually, more than once. And then when I picked her up, she kicked me in the balls, too. ) So now I’m wondering : what happens if you pick up a goat? Or, what happens if you pick up a ghost? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/35 "2013-05-23T18:00:15Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Wow. So you guys would, by a two to one margin, be more comfortable spending the night in a “haunted house” where a grisly murder or 3 took place, than walking into a goat pen? Any sane, rational person would be. Since ghosts don’t exist, and presumably the murderer in his situation isn’t at large and likely to return to that house for new victims, there’s no reason to be nervous about entering the house. Entering the pen of a strange animal - especially one well equipped to do damage - is a different situation. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/36 "2013-05-23T18:14:38Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Any sane, rational person would be. I understand that. Most people don’t behave rationally, though, and I wanted to see, if the question were framed differently, if people would stick to their rational answer. I could talk myself through it, but my \*first \*reaction would be to avoid spending the night in a murder house much more than to avoid a goat. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/37 "2013-05-23T19:41:48Z")
The question isn’t which is least rational, but which is most pathetic. Neither is pathetic: fear isn’t rational. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/38 "2013-05-23T19:52:16Z")
You can stare at goats, but not ghosts, cause you can’t see 'em. ---
**Author:** ![randomface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@randomface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomface)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/39 "2013-05-23T20:20:12Z")
For an adult, being scared of a petting zoo goat is pathetic. Being scared of a ram, not so much. Being scared of ghosts is a little different for me though, since for the last three months I’ve been having sleep paralysis/hypnagogic hallucinations 4 or more times a week centering on a menacing figure leaning in the door frame, then when I finally can move I usually try to chase them down and beat them to death as they flee down the hallway. I know it’s not real, but I’ll be damned if my first thought when I keep seeing it isn’t “ghost”. It’s not a rational fear, it’s a primal fear. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069/40 "2013-05-23T21:09:53Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Why would you avoid spending the night in a “haunted” house where horrible murders happened, if not for fear of ghosts? Dumbass teenagers? Crazy bums? Mold? Rats, spiders, and cockroaches? Boredom? I can think of all kinds of non-supernatural things about an abandoned house that might be dangerous, frightening, or unpleasant. Beyond that, it seems like the fair comparison would be either walking into a goat pen vs. walking into a haunted house, or sleeping in a goat pen vs. sleeping in a haunted house. If it’s walking into a goat pen vs. sleeping in a haunted house that’s comparing an experience that would last a few seconds/minutes to an experience that would last hours. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-pathetic-to-be-afraid-of-ghosts-or-goats/659069.md?page=3)