Actually, it would be interesting to test this. http://www.yourmorals.org/disgust_process.php and http://www.yourmorals.org/blog/category/disgust/ show that people who are "high" on disgust tend to be more conservative. But if we know anything on the demographics here, it's that Republicans are almost non-existent on here, and that people here generally fit in categories that are "low" on disgust.
Personally, I'm totally fine with things many people find morally disgusting, like incest. Moral disgust practically doesn't exist in my psyche. But for some reason this doesn't extend to arthropods.
Okay, so for several years, I've been doing a fairly good job of excising out most of my irrational beliefs and fears.
The one that remains, however, is my fear of bugs and spiders. I'll SCREAM if I see one, dead or alive. And if there's one in my food, then I'm going to throw the entire plate out.
Is it common for LWers to have irrational reactions to bugs and spiders?
I know that there is "desensitization therapy", as highlighted by a Scientific American Frontiers episode a decade ago (where gradual exposure to the stimulus - a spider) - can desensitize a person with arachnophobia over time. But this can really only happen in controlled settings. In uncontrolled settings, such interaction can give you nightmares.