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

[Thrylix]

Everybody thinks they're a good guy, even if they killed people same as you did with the bug. They probably are, to some people they care about but mostly they just lack empathy.

I only squash bugs that are harmful to humans or pets. Others I may even save from drowning or such, even if I don't like them.

Well, most people I know think I'm a pretty good guy too. I'm known to be fair, friendly, even generous. I treat bugs like dirt, true, but I guess I feel that how I treat them doesn't count. They're too tiny to matter so I can do whatever I feel like to them.

 

[Nietzsche]

I rarely kill any insect unless it is intrinsically dangerous to me. Like the time I found a Mukade in my apartment. That thing needed to die, I wasn't going near it. I feel bad about killing. But there was no way to remove it either. Picture attached for emphasis.

..why does that exist. Nothing needs to be that long with that many legs in those colours.

 

[Glaurung]

There have been a few times when I have been in a position to crush an insect but held back my foot out of empathy. Not so much because I feel that I owe a large deal of moral consideration to an insect, but simply that I felt uneasy but killing a living thing for no reason.

That said, if there is something in my living quarters then it usually has to go. I'll leave the odd cellar spider alone (or at least until I vacuum) but something like a huntsman or a cockroach needs to go. Hygiene and not having big spiders running around my room is justification.

 

[Koldo]

In recent years, due to my obsession with Islam, I've affectionately named my handy, dandy bug zapper, "The Hand of ALLAH!" ...

Hahahaha. I had a good laugh at this one.

 

[dawny0826]

I'm 24 years old, was in class two days ago... saw a spider crawling under my desk. I was bored so before it got away I slid my foot over and quietly crunched the little guy.

I tilted my foot over to show the flattened spider to my buddy sitting across, which was sticking to my muddy running shoe and half alive. As I was doing this from behind me a kid behind me called me a bully and said that that was "fiendish." I told him to bend down and kiss my stinking feet. I know, I know... not nice heh. I'm actually a pretty good guy.

Do you think my actions were that egregious? I'll be honest; I've been stepping on bugs my whole life, often on purpose or for no real reason. If bugs are reincarnates of people, well... my thinking is better luck next time. Probably did the little guy a favor... maybe the reason uncle bob or grandma jane crawled up to a giant white sneaker was because they wanted me to crush them out of existence.

What are your thoughts? Is it wrong to step on bugs? Why or why not? Would I be considered a cruel god?

Only a god in your own mind (cruel or otherwise).

I would consider it odd if you frolicked about in pursuit of bugs to kill for the sport of it.

Without remorse, I destroy ants as they invade my kitchen during summers. I feel no remorse for ridding myself of insects that weren't invited into my home and find their way into my food. What they do outside is their business. When they enter my kitchen, they're at my mercy.

 

[Jumi]

I kill ants if there is many of them. If a single ant comes in, I just throw him out. Same with bees and others. Many spiders are useful for humans, they will take care of ants, fly and some bugs that are bad for hygiene. Flies or mosquitoes are dead if I catch them.

 

[dust1n]

If it is permissible to kill one type organism for no reason, it is permissible to kill any type organism for no reason. Without exception.

Why is that? I fail to the see the necessary condition.

 

[Thrylix]

Only a god in your own mind (cruel or otherwise).

I would consider it odd if you frolicked about in pursuit of bugs to kill for the sport of it.

Without remorse, I destroy ants as they invade my kitchen during summers. I feel no remorse for ridding myself of insects that weren't invited into my home and find their way into my food. What they do outside is their business. When they enter my kitchen, they're at my mercy.

I was joking when I asked if I would be considered a cruel god. Although, compared to them I may as well be a god. By contrast I'm a giant. The smell of my feet alone could probably kill bugs.

 

[dawny0826]

I was joking when I asked if I would be considered a cruel god. Although, compared to them I may as well be a god. By contrast I'm a giant. The smell of my feet alone could probably kill bugs.

I figured you were and made that statement tongue and cheek as well. Feet can be dangerous.

Most bugs are no more than robotic in their ability - "programmed" for specific tasks. Some have the ability to react to threat, but, not as a result of an emotional response.

You are a giant in comparison. And they're greatly oblivious.

 

[Thrylix]

Yea.. it'd because they're oblivious to what I'm doing that I feel that stepping on them, even for no real reason, is still morally neutral. When I lower my foot on a hoard of ants at a picnic, I doubt they comprehend the imminent danger posed by a massive white rubber object (my sneaker) overhead.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Well, most people I know think I'm a pretty good guy too. I'm known to be fair, friendly, even generous. I treat bugs like dirt, true, but I guess I feel that how I treat them doesn't count. They're too tiny to matter so I can do whatever I feel like to them.

Predispostion.

It's a force of nature. Not much different than a storm or event of various intensity.

Happens everytime I cut the lawn or drive a car as well.

 

[Jumi]

Let's assume there was a giant that saw you as a bug and thought you insignificant. Would it be ok in your mind for it to kill you just for fun or do you think it should have some reason for it?

 

[Thrylix]

That's not really the same though, is it? The giant would also have to be a thousand times more intelligent, whose perception of the world was way more sophisticated and advanced. That would be a more accurate parallel to myself and the bugs that I've stepped on.

If there was a race of tiny ant-sized beings on some planet that I stumbled on, who were intelligent with cities and things, and I stepped on their towns for fun, then I would probably be a big jerk. Fun as it would be to establish dominance and force them to worship me... hah.

 

[Jumi]

If he was an intellectual giant to humans as well but an alien mindset, would you consider it fine if he killed humans for no reason?

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Let's assume there was a giant that saw you as a bug and thought you insignificant. Would it be ok in your mind for it to kill you just for fun or do you think it should have some reason for it?

Well, insects are probably not aware of what's happening. If they are, it's not in the same way we are.

Emotions are said to require complex brain structures, and many biologists are saying they react to stimuli instinctively rather than by decisions.

It's unlikely they feel pain, and unlikely they care about death. If you kill a bug when there are more nearby, you'll notice the other bugs don't change in behavior. They show no signs of fear, no signs of sadness, no sign of interest.

Other evidence for this is this; have you ever see a bug land on a window, thinking it's an opening to outside? They keep trying though. And have you witnessed a fly that entered a building by an open door, cannot find its way back out after only a minute of coming in, the door remaining opened by a crack.

Besides, bugs lifespans are very short. If you don't kill a fly, it'll be dead in maybe a month. They just don't live long.

 

[Jumi]

I don't think feelings or lifespan matter that much. There are people who don't have much in the way of feelings or are dying.

What if there was a giant advanced being who thought the same way of humans. He might have lived for 10 000 years and expect to live 90 000 more. He could have similar reasons why he would not care if he killed humans for fun. So would it be ok for him to do so?

If you observe your neighbors just from your window you will see that they always drive to work at a certain time and come back at a certain time but nothing changes. In a short while they and you die of old age. Like my grandmother said, it feels like yesterday when she was still a kid, how did time go by so quickly?

 

[Thrylix]

I don't think feelings or lifespan matter that much. There are people who don't have much in the way of feelings or are dying.

What if there was a giant advanced being who thought the same way of humans. He might have lived for 10 000 years and expect to live 90 000 more. He could have similar reasons why he would not care if he killed humans for fun. So would it be ok for him to do so?

If you observe your neighbors just from your window you will see that they always drive to work at a certain time and come back at a certain time but nothing changes. In a short while they and you die of old age. Like my grandmother said, it feels like yesterday when she was still a kid, how did time go by so quickly?

Of course we'd think that such a giant being was a jerk and we'd resent him for it. But in the way that ants can't communicate to us whether or not they don't want to be crushed, I'm assuming we wouldn't be able to communicate to this giant alien in a way that he perceives as meaningful that we prefer he not plant his massive foot on NYC out of callous curiosity or boredom. We'd be too small and unintelligent for him to care what we want. So, I guess it would be okay.. hell, I'd probably do the same thing if I were that size.

If it were a giant alien of equivalent intelligence, that's when it becomes a little more questionable. Can't say I would mind being revered as a giant god, though..

 

[Penumbra]

If it is permissible to kill one type organism for no reason, it is permissible to kill any type organism for no reason. Without exception.

Each person kills trillions of micro-organisms simply by existing, so if all organisms are in the same category then what are a few hundred extra bugs, mammals, or even other humans throughout the course of a life?

I fail to see value in such black-and-white categorization of organisms.

 

[Baladas]

I don't go out of my way to crush bugs, unless they are capable of harming me (whether directly or indirectly). I respect all forms of life, but that does not mean that I won't kill to protect myself and my family. Especially when the perpetrator in question is a bug.

 

[Windwalker]

I'll be honest; I've been stepping on bugs my whole life, often on purpose or for no real reason.

Of course there's never a "no real reason" scenario if you in fact made a choice. If you mean your leg suddenly acted involuntarily outside your control as you helplessly watched, I would suggest you set up an appointment with a neurologist. But assuming your body isn't malfunctioning like this, it is clear you were making a choice, but the underlying motives for that choice may escape your own awareness and in that sense are "outside your control", acting impulsively, lashing out, hitting, thrashing, killing, etc.

I think what your friend was calling into question is why you make choices to kill living things for sport, when it serves no purpose other than an individual exercise of power over other living things. In other words it is serving only a baser, more selfish need to smash an insect for the sake of power over it, such as the 12 year old who smashes a caterpillar just to kill it. I think if you were both 12 he wouldn't have questioned it. But he is questioning a young adult who continues to act like that, because at a certain stage adults should at least move beyond this need to dominate others in order to have self-power. In other words, it's immature.

Then again, it is a positive quality for those who go into such careers as politics and finance, where viewing other living creatures, human or otherwise, as objects to manipulate for self-gain is the sought after quality. I think how we see the world, becomes ultimately a reflection of how we see ourselves and our place in it, as an exploiter, or a steward of it and others.

If bugs are reincarnates of people, well... my thinking is better luck next time. Probably did the little guy a favor... maybe the reason uncle bob or grandma jane crawled up to a giant white sneaker was because they wanted me to crush them out of existence.

Rationalizations only exist when there is a twinge of doubt concerning ones own actions. We wouldn't need to seeking for self-justification if we truly were at peace with ourselves and our actions.

What are your thoughts? Is it wrong to step on bugs? Why or why not? Would I be considered a cruel god?

I think you're questioning yourself.