Helen asks…
Why do people think it's wrong to step on bugs?
I'm 24, have a professional job, and I still tend to flatten a bug if I see it crawling around my feet. If I'm playing tennis and I see one on the court, I'll be honest: I'll probably slide my foot over it to squash it. I've never had a problem stepping on them, even throughout college, and I've stepped on a lot of them over the years. I know that some people consider it wrong, but it seems pretty normal to me. Most of my male friends don't think twice about planting a foot over some busy anthill on the sidewalk, nor do I, and I've done that plenty of times. Hell, the more exoskeletons gunked up on my shoe, the better. I can definitely think of more painful ways for a bug to die than getting instantly crushed beneath some guy's gigantic sneaker. Why would it be wrong? The rationale of "I do it because I can" might be the one used by bullies, and it holds true somewhat. Does that mean I view bugs as less significant than me? Well, yeah I guess I do. But is that necessarily wrong? I don't personally think so, it's an advantage of being bigger. It isn't as if they are little people.
Our pick of the answers:
They are alive, and to me it seems to be natural to respect life in any form. I don't mind squashing a mosquito - I regard this as self defense. But if it is a bug which doesn't do anything to me I don't do anything to it. In addition, while there is a number of bugs which are a nuissance, there is also a large number of bugs which are beneficial to us (e.g. Keep the number of the nuissance bugs in check). I would guess part of it is also the idea that you wouldn't really like if a giant sneaker comes from the sky and squashes you. In a metaphorical way. It's the idea that what you do comes around eventually to yourself and if you have no respect for life of other lifeforms you don't understand, some day some entity might not grant you the respect you think you deserve. Also if you have generally the attitude that it's OK to squash something small and defenseless, do you really limit this strictly to bugs, or will you eventually try to apply it to anything you perceive as weaker than you - when you are a bully. And before you wonder - I don't even like to see potted plants dying of neglect. And I do have quite a collection of plants I've rescued.
Sandy asks…
Why do people think it's cruel to step on bugs?
I'm 24, have a professional job, and I still tend to flatten any bug I see crawling around my feet. If I'm playing tennis and I see one on the court, I'll probably walk right on it. I've never had a problem stepping on them, even throughout college. Do you think that it's immoral? It seems pretty normal to me. Most of my male friends wouldn't think twice about whether or not to plant a foot over some busy anthill, nor would I. I never understood why people say it's cruel. I can think of more painful ways to die than getting squashed instantly under a gigantic running shoe. Seems pretty humane to me, maybe a little unpleasant if my feet smell. Besides, when something is that small in size, would you really care about the manner of its death? I feel like it's the same as asking Godzilla why he doesn't feel bad about stepping on humans... because at that size, I wouldn't feel too bad about it either.
Our pick of the answers:
Because people like to assign human traits to non-humans. This is called anthropomorphism. Squishing bugs is only cruel to your host if you smash a big juicy one on their carpet.
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