DEFANGING THE SNAKE

What would you do if someone suddenly threw a venomous snake at you — or any snake, for that matter? Instinctively, you’d jump back, right? This happens because most human beings have a deep-seated fear of being bitten and killed by snakes.

Now, take that same serpent and remove its fangs. If someone threw a fangless snake at you, would you jump? Maybe you would because of the fear of snakes we all share, but your fear of being bitten and envenomated would be greatly reduced. This is so because the snake is now essentially harmless.

We know that a snakebite can be lethal — or, at the very least, painful — and that the fear of dying from a bite automatically puts us in a state of fear, forces us to go on the defensive, and raises our blood pressure and adrenaline levels. However, a snake that cannot inject its venom is no longer a threat because its primary weapons are its fangs.

PARALLELS

In some ways, humans in combat are snakelike. Whereas the snake has two fangs, we have five: two arms, two legs and a head. Our arms