Do you think stepping on bugs is wrong - why or why not?

[Thrylix]

I'm 21 years old, had to go to a picnic today. I got up to throw something in the garbage and at the garbage can noticed a horde of ants bustling around a little ant mound. I was bored so I lifted my foot over them and stamped it down. After flattening them and their little home under my shoe, I walked back to the blanket.

When I sat back down, I leaned over to check out all the crushed ants stuck to my foot. My friend and I sort of snickered because the ants I carried through the grass on the bottom of my feet were only half-crushed and squirming in the treads of my running shoe. Then out of nowhere some guy who I didn't know saw me and called me a "white bully" and "inhumane" because I step on bugs. I told him to bend down and kiss my stinking feet. I know, not nice, heh.

Now, I've been stepping on bugs my whole life. I know jains respect all life and believe that what I do when I see a bug is wrong. But how is that explained? I thought they believed in reincarnation but how does that work? Do they believe that bugs are reincarnated from people?

If I'm stepping on uncle bob, is that really such a bad thing? I guess my thoughts would be eh, better luck next time. There was probably a reason he ended up as a tiny ant on the bottom of my shoe.

 

[Quintessence]

If senseless slaughter and destruction of the non-human world is permissible, so too is senseless slaughter and destruction of the human world. It is not different.

Or rather, it is only different in the minds of certain humans who think they're the most important, spectacular, and awesome thing in the entire universe. Their arrogance distresses me, and their lack of respect for the Weave saddens me.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Why kill bugs when they aren't harming you? I feel bad when I kill bugs and I try to never kill them when they aren't bothering me or else I feel extra bad.

 

[Quintessence]

Some people think I'm crazy for not poisoning ants when I see them in my living space. I think they are crazy for doing it. They are not bothering anything, and I cannot justify mass murder of an entire colony when they are not bothering anything. The dark half of the year comes, it gets cold outside, and they stop coming in anyway. I just wait. Eventually they find no food. Eventually they leave. No need for killing.

 

[Thrylix]

Eh boredom I guess. It's funny to watch them scramble like all hell to avoid being crushed. Plus demolishing their home gives the little guys something to do!

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Some people think I'm crazy for not poisoning ants when I see them in my living space. I think they are crazy for doing it. They are not bothering anything, and I cannot justify mass murder of an entire colony when they are not bothering anything. The dark half of the year comes, it gets cold outside, and they stop coming in anyway. I just wait. Eventually they find no food. Eventually they leave. No need for killing.

Yeah, we get ants that come in sometimes. We had flying ants once. My mom killed them. Ants don't bother me, though.

However, if there is any species that deserves to be annihilated, it's bedbugs! I hate them so much!

 

[Thrylix]

So then how would jains or buddhists who believe in reincarnation interact with someone like me who habitually squashes smaller lifeforms. They believe in non violence.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Eh boredom I guess. It's funny to watch them scramble like all hell to avoid being crushed. Plus demolishing their home gives the little guys something to do!

Wow, talk about a lack of empathy. Do you mistreat mammals, frogs, fish, etc. too?

 

[Thrylix]

I haven't mistreated or killed anything larger than a wasp, probably. I'm considered a pretty nice, well rounded guy by all my friends and I like most animals.

Mindless bugs are different, in my opinion.

 

[Twilight Hue]

So then how would jains or buddhists who believe in reincarnation interact with someone like me who habitually squashes smaller lifeforms. They believe in non violence.

People are realistic. What you do is not uncommon. People squish bugs all the time. Some more than others.

 

[McBell]

If senseless slaughter and destruction of the non-human world is permissible, so too is senseless slaughter and destruction of the human world. It is not different.

Are saying you cannot tell the difference between humans and non-humans?

Or rather, it is only different in the minds of certain humans who think they're the most important, spectacular, and awesome thing in the entire universe. Their arrogance distresses me, and their lack of respect for the Weave saddens me.

And what of those who do not fit into your false dichotomy?

 

[Thana]

I'm 21 years old, had to go to a picnic today. I got up to throw something in the garbage and at the garbage can noticed a horde of ants bustling around a little ant mound. I was bored so I lifted my foot over them and stamped it down. After flattening them and their little home under my shoe, I walked back to the blanket.

When I sat back down, I leaned over to check out all the crushed ants stuck to my foot. My friend and I sort of snickered because the ants I carried through the grass on the bottom of my feet were only half-crushed and squirming in the treads of my running shoe. Then out of nowhere some guy who I didn't know saw me and called me a "white bully" and "inhumane" because I step on bugs. I told him to bend down and kiss my stinking feet. I know, not nice, heh.

Now, I've been stepping on bugs my whole life. I know jains respect all life and believe that what I do when I see a bug is wrong. But how is that explained? I thought they believed in reincarnation but how does that work? Do they believe that bugs are reincarnated from people?

If I'm stepping on uncle bob, is that really such a bad thing? I guess my thoughts would be eh, better luck next time. There was probably a reason he ended up as a tiny ant on the bottom of my shoe.

I dunno, Going out of your way to kill them seems a bit cruel and unnecessary.

Then again, I can't judge.
If I know the whereabouts of a spider in my house I'm going to kill it.
No mercy for spiders

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I haven't mistreated or killed anything larger than a wasp, probably. I'm considered a pretty nice, well rounded guy by all my friends and I like most animals.

Mindless bugs are different, in my opinion.

Ah. I think that's the common attitude among people in the West.

 

[Parsimony]

I would consider killing an insect or spider without some due cause to be just as wrong as doing the same to a vertebrate like a cat or dog. I believe humans have an inherent bias in them to think more highly of things that are relatively similar to them (like mammals such as the cat or dog) and more lowly of those that are dissimilar (insects, spiders, worms, etc.). Another bias is that mammals are able to express pain in ways that we can understand better than can insects. Fear and disgust no doubt add to the justifications we give for killing invertebrates.

Many try to justify it by saying that invertebrates cannot feel pain, but there is evidence that at least some species do have that ability. It has been demonstrated that the crab species Neohelice granulata will learn to avoid electric shocks and even associate electric shocks with certain stimuli (conditioned learning). This would mean that the response to pain is more than a mere in-built reflex and that the crab takes active measures to avoid the shock. Snails have demonstrated similar conditioned learning with electrode implants wired to specific areas of the brain.

Argiope spiders are known to detach one of their legs if they are stung in the leg by a wasp. When the same spider is injected with saline in a leg, the spider does not amputate the leg. If it is injected with components from the venom known to cause pain in humans, it will remove the leg as usual. When injected with non-painful venom components, it will not remove the leg. This suggests a response to pain and not simply an instinctual response to the act of being stung in itself.

 

[psychoslice]

Its not if its right or wrong, its what you feel at that time of stepping on the ants, we step on all sorts of creatures all the time without even knowing it. But when we are aware of what we are stepping on its a different story. We are now conscious of what we are doing so we may take caution, its that simple, it all depends where you are consciously, but in truth there is no right or wrong.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I would consider killing an insect or spider without some due cause to be just as wrong as doing the same to a vertebrate like a cat or dog. I believe humans have an inherent bias in them to think more highly of things that are relatively similar to them (like mammals such as the cat or dog) and more lowly of those that are dissimilar (insects, spiders, worms, etc.). Another bias is that mammals are able to express pain in ways that we can understand better than can insects. Fear and disgust no doubt add to the justifications we give for killing invertebrates.

Many try to justify it by saying that invertebrates cannot feel pain, but there is evidence that at least some species do have that ability. It has been demonstrated that the crab species Neohelice granulata will learn to avoid electric shocks and even associate electric shocks with certain stimuli (conditioned learning). This would mean that the response to pain is more than a mere in-built reflex and that the crab takes active measures to avoid the shock. Snails have demonstrated similar conditioned learning with electrode implants wired to specific areas of the brain.

Argiope spiders are known to detach one of their legs if they are stung in the leg by a wasp. When the same spider is injected with saline in a leg, the spider does not amputate the leg. If it is injected with components from the venom known to cause pain in humans, it will remove the leg as usual. When injected with non-painful venom components, it will not remove the leg. This suggests a response to pain and not simply an instinctual response to the act of being stung in itself.

I completely agree with you.

 

[Thrylix]

People are realistic. What you do is not uncommon. People squish bugs all the time. Some more than others.

I agree but some disagree with what I do at the same time often due to religion. True, I'm toying with beings that I see as much less significant than I see myself as being.

If godzilla were real, would he care about the tiny humans he is stepping on? If I were that size, I wouldn't!

 

[Madhuri]

Eh boredom I guess. It's funny to watch them scramble like all hell to avoid being crushed. Plus demolishing their home gives the little guys something to do!

I'm a Hindu and I also believe in reincarnation and non-violence. IMy whole life I've tried to avoid killing unnecessarily. When I was really little, I remember seeing boys my age (like 5-6 yrs old) stomping on ants and it made me very sad. I don't like to kill them.

It actually has nothing to do with reincarnation. Although I believe that all living things have souls and eventually become human and gods etc. this is really not the reason to feel bad about killing.

Stepping on the insects causes them pain and suffering. Knowing or believing this, I cannot go out of my way to cause that suffering. If I took enjoyment from such acts, I would be a sadist. I am not a sadist.

 

[Thrylix]

For the ants I've stepped on there are worse ways for ants to die than getting flattened under a giant foot. But If I were ant I would hope I don't run into me or another guy like me either.

I believe bugs may experience pain but they don't have the capacity to feel suffering. If a giant alien whose size, intelligence, and perception was 1000x ours came to earth and was bored and decided to plant his foot on NYC to stir things up, I'm sure that I'd be waving my arms desperately to be noticed and think life unfair and that the alien was a giant jerk.

But if I were a giant alien on another race's planet, I'd probably do the same.... I'd watch them for a while, get bored after an hour, see what they do when I crush some of their towns. And I'd probably be just as indifferent to the tiny aliens waving up at me with their pleas . No one (at least nobody who mattered) would ever find out or punish me for it.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I agree but some disagree with what I do at the same time often due to religion. True, I'm toying with beings that I see as much less significant than I see myself as being.

If godzilla were real, would he care about the tiny humans he is stepping on? If I were that size, I wouldn't!

Nor would any ant hesitate to kill if it happened to be a role reversal and much larger than a human being. We call that a force of nature and the manner on how our brains are wired is a part of nature. People will always differ in such ways and qualities like empathy will vary with each makeup of each person. My view is nature is like that. We strive to be compassionate but even such qualities will vary one person to another. I wont concider a lack of empathy on part of a person as making said person inferior nor better, just an act of nature that " maintains itself ". Sometimes calm, sometimes stormy on how things bear out.