IStock Photo 6950559 © David Parsons

Ralph Waldo Emerson believed “knowledge is the antidote to fear,” but he may have come to this conclusion with too much haste. Studies that look at phobias relative to education levels show mixed results. For example, those who achieved a degree beyond a bachelor’s are more likely to be afraid of a thunderstorm.

Astrapophobia, the fear of thunder and lightning, afflicts 1 in 20 adults. The odds increase to 1 in 12.5 for those for have achieved more than a bachelor’s degree. For adults with a high school diploma or less, the odds fall to 1 in 25. Maybe it’s lucky Ben Franklin never finished high school.

According to the literature, only 1 in 835,500 people are struck by lightning per year—roughly equal to the odds a person in Connecticut will die from inhaling gastric contents in a year (1 in 833,100). Fortunately, 1 in 1.16 (86%) people survive lightning strikes—though the effects of the bolt on survivors can be long-lasting and serious.

One very lucky lightning strike survivor claims he was actually saved by the bolt. Donald Marsolais, a 58-year-old resident of Ontario, Canada, was confined to a wheelchair after a stroke paralyzed him on the left side of his body. After he was struck in July of 2009, he almost immediately regained feeling in his lame half. Since then, he’s ditched his wheelchair and is strolling around his house with a cane.

So, what is it about thunder and lightning that an educated person fears so much? A study published in the New York Times in 1902 (PDF) speculated that people who take refuge under the covers during a violent storm are probably more frightened by the thunderous clamor than the flashes of electricity, even though the danger lies in the lightning. If that’s true, the knowledge that you can’t be struck down by thunder provides no “antidote to fear.” As the New York Times writer points out:

“When the atmosphere is charged with electricity and the nerves of those susceptible to such influences are as tense and vibratory as piano strings, the reasoning powers play a very small part in determining the sensations.”

Perhaps more education overexcites nerves and amplifies fear. In terms of astrapophobia, at least, you’re better off being epistemophobic (afraid of knowledge)—but for everything else, hit the books.