Sophia White-
Is there a fly bothering you in your life that just won’t quit flying around? Buzzing? Well, let me tell you that there are some things you should consider before you kill that fly or insect that is in your space.
First of all, it’s not your space. There are tiny minuscule creatures around us that take up space as well, but there’s so much space allocated to humans that we’ve forced our space upon theirs. If you look at the natural world, all space is intertwined with life. It was never just one species in one area alone, because life is interconnected and relies on each other through different processes.
Our agricultural systems rely on insects and creatures in the soil to supply it with the right nutrients to grow healthy and strong for our fruits and vegetables. When humans mess with the soil and plow up the soil, they don’t realize the amount of insects they are hurting. Most of the time it’s almost an action we aren’t aware of. But when you are aware and realize that most of a bug’s life can be changed in a moment by a human being, there is time to think about the moral implications of the harm we commit.
Most humans believe that there are too many insects anyways and insects can not feel pain when these things occur, but there needs to be a time to stop and examine our moral double standards for animal lives. Based on recent research on animal minds, it is found that insects, while having smaller brains than humans, still have complex cognitive functions. Brain size doesn’t matter. Their neural networks are capable of impressive long-term memory, finding patterns, democratic vote, curiosity, and possibly consciousness.
And these miraculous creatures are not all the same either. Some work as individuals rather than in a group, and some have a more aggressive nature than a passive one. Not all bugs are the same and not all individuals within the same species are either. Individual bees can carry out one task in a way another can’t, in a similar fashion to a human who can paint the Mona Lisa and one makes a blob.
These things are still being researched and since it feels relevant to the current Nobel Conference topic, I thought this would be a good time to talk about human morals towards animals, and in specific with insects. But it’s difficult to use comparisons involving insects, because of our deep ingrained apathy towards them. It is a struggle to see something so small and ugly (for some) as something akin to ourselves or even like a beloved domesticated pet. In some of my memories when I was young, I recall taking care of the insects in my yard. I was too scared to interact with my family’s hunting dog, so I liked making little shelters in the grass for bugs I would find. I named them, gave them homes, and searched for food for them. I still care for insects, but it is much more complicated now. I am the person at work or in a friend group that is not afraid of insects. I was always tasked with getting rid of them one way or another. I’ve killed them time and time again as I’m sure others of you have on a whim. It barely takes a moment’s notice to do it with no guilt either.
It was when I started to consider whether bugs felt pain or had thoughts like me that I started to treat them differently. I started to take them outside and lay them out in the grass whether it was with my hands or a cup; it developed a new relationship with me and bugs. Even if bugs do not
have a consciousness, why do we treat them as if they are some robotic, lifeless creature? All these thoughts helped me develop a new mindfulness towards insect life. One thing I would like to make clear about my intentions with this piece is that I am not saying that you are a complete monster if you are out here killing insects, and I am not saying that you
have to change the way you act around insects either. All I am asking is for you to stop for a moment to consider your actions and be mindful of them. Is this insect harming you at this exact moment? Is there a way where you can leave the space or move the insect to an outdoor spot that would be safer for them?
Deciding to not harm insects altogether is not always the answer either. I do not think that it is morally correct to try to restrict behavior but rather work on transforming it. Humans will take a while to get used to changing their behavior towards insects, and that means trial and error will
still occurs. There will be moments when killing an insect may come out of a place of instinct. That is why I believe it to be most important for you to try and remain mindful of your actions. This can apply to every aspect of your life, but in particular, I want us as humans to remain mindful of our actions towards the parts of creation that we deem as lesser because in reality, they are not lesser. The fact that we need them in order to sustain life for ourselves and other animals is one reason they are essential to all life. Not only that but the possibility of their brains working in such magnificent ways (with some traits being similar to ours) how can they be lesser?
It is an important question to think about, and it is something that you can bring with you to the Nobel Conference next week. I am not a professional on this topic, so I encourage everyone to go to at least one of the sessions to hear really smart people with doctorates discuss how our life interacts with insects. If you choose not to attend, I hope you can still take some of this information with you as you dissect your own assumptions about insects.