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Nah.. I live in the northeast, where the ants are relatively defenseless and their anthills are small enough to fit under your foot. Just planting your foot on it will demolish it. Standing on it will block them in.
Wonder where the OP lives? Wonder if he has ever had any experience with a fire ant colony?
Stepping on an anthill that covers several hundred square feet and is so honey combed with tunnels that you sink almost to your waist is not a pleasant experience. I've seen calves killed after stepping on a Fire ant hill. Heard of but have not verified stories of people being killed by them rascals.
I do justify the killing of fire ants as they do pose a very real danger.
Hey Thrylix, cool thread. My opinion...okay let's say I'm the ant. I know nothing about you, your intentions, what you're thinking, philosophy, human nature, etc, etc...allz I know is that you are the size of a giant NYC skyscraper, with your sneakers alone being just the first 10 stories lol. Point being, if I were an ant on the ground and saw your two massive feet crushing everything in their path on their way toward me and I wanted to live, I'd get the heck outta your way...and fast lol.
The bottom line is you're bigger and more powerful than I am. I wouldn't look up at you and think "this giant has a moral obligation not to step on me"...no way! As the smaller creature it's up to me to do what I need to do if I want to survive, and in this case that means running as far away from those two sneakers as antly possible haha. That's really my only "defense" against you.
If I choose to ignore your giant feet coming at me and stay where I am, then really whatever happens, happens. Whether you step on me inadvertently as you walk by or deliberately choose to crush me, it's the price I pay for not trying to escape. We are two different species on nature's food chain...you don't owe me anything and I don't owe you anything. If I want to survive it's my problem, not your's, and vice versa. I have to do what I have to do, and in this case that means run!!
Even if I did try to run and you still crushed me, either accidentally or deliberately, I probably wouldn't be too happy about it lol but unfortunately that's just nature. You're the human, you're bigger, and you have the free will to do whatever you want to me without consequence. Honestly the only thing I can do as an ant is hope to reincarnate as a human in my next life as I'm stuck to your sole lol. Bottom line is you have size and brains on your side...nature gave you that...and I don't. What you choose to do to me is what you choose and I just have to deal with it.
Really cool/interesting topic tho and same for all the different responses! Let's just all be glad we're humans lol I'd hate to be a bug...especially with guys like Thrylix around haha!!
Right or wrong might not be the best words. Is killing them necessary or meaningful? If they're in your house, it might be justified and/or meaningful. But killing them outside, in their environment, for no reason...? Some might see no justification or sensibility for the latter case.
The application and setting make a difference. One human might kill or hurt, but another human help. They're both the same creature, but treated differently due to the situation and setting.
Stepping on a bug or snake or whatever does not contain enough information. Stepping on a poisonous snake about to bite you is one thing, but stepping on a snake that was about to attack a wolf coming at you would be quite different.
There are obviously sadistic people in this world who enjoy seeing other creatures killed and maimed. Should they be supported? Should we appeal to that type of person, and promote their ways, or work against that? I know my answer. And some react to bugs etc. out of fear and ignorance (stamp out what you don't understand). We can lower ourselves to their level, or try to help them see better ways. Many are afraid to stand up to values and ethics, and would rather - cowardly - follow the crowd. It might boil down to whether or not you give a damn, and want to be part of the problem or part of the solution.
Last edited by Thoreau424; 12-04-2017 at 07:20 PM..
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 ants. I told him to bend down and kiss my stinking feet. I know, not nice, heh.
I've been stepping on bugs my whole life. I know jains respect all life and believe that my actions are 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 someone's 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 and that by contrast, I'm a giant.
Do you think stepping on bugs is wrong - why or why not?
To take pleasure in this and do it as a hobby seems like a waste of life on both ends. I hope you can grow and mature as a person and make the most out of life.
This is a fun discussion you started Thrylix, and I find it amusing how humans are the only species on the planet that even have the luxury of debating such things lol. All other species are too busy just trying to survive.
I think that's what this is all about though, just basic survival. I as "yarma the ant" want to survive just as much as "Thrylix the human" does. And neither of us owes the other anything toward our individual survival. Thrylix is the size of a New York City skyscraper to me, and his sneakers alone are the size of 2 homes, so if I see him walking toward me I'm gonna run like heck to stay out of his way and not be crushed. If I don't run, and he steps on me, whether he does so accidentally or deliberately, I wouldn't be happy about it, but it is what it is. That's just how it goes as a member of the ecosystem and food chain on planet earth. Thrylix, as a human, is bigger and smarter than I am, and this gives him the advantage in terms of survival. He doesn't have to care or worry about stepping on me. It's up to me to avoid his sneakers if I want to live.
If Thrylix and all other humans had to live their lives walking around looking down at the ground 24/7 to make sure they weren't stepping on any of us insects, they would have a lot less energy to focus on the activities of their daily human survival. Imagine a human race that was focused on not stepping on bugs. It would actually be kind of funny watching humans delicately walking around to avoid stepping on any bugs they see on the ground. Little to nothing would get done in terms of work and daily human survival if this were the case. As yarma the ant, I would probably be laughing at them all and thinking "hey humans, thanks for making my quest to survive a lot easier!" And that's the whole thing: humanity's survival would suffer because they are all too busy worrying about the survival of a smaller species. And the smaller species doesn't care...I and all the other ants would just continue on with our daily ant lives while the over-thinking humans fussed over us lol. If every species on the planet took this attitude and avoided harming lesser species, nobody would eat, and the ecosystem would fall apart. For better or worse, humans stepping on bugs is just a part of life. Humans want to survive, and they don't have time to fuss over stepping on bugs in the process. As a bug, it's all on me to avoid the bigger humans.
So as far as Thrylix deliberately stepping on bugs, I would say this: If humans are concerned about not stepping on bugs, and they think it is "wrong", then they should be that concerned 24/7. Because in my mind, a human inadvertently stepping on a bug while they're at the grocery store buying food is no different than Thrylix stepping on a bug deliberately because he's bored. In both instances the human is indifferent toward the life of the bug. The human in the grocery store shopping for food knows subconsciously that there might be a bug on the floor somewhere in the store. If that human decides not to worry about stepping on it and goes about their shopping, then in my mind that's no different than Thrylix not worrying about stepping on the bug as he amuses himself with it. In both instances the humans have chosen to put their own self-interests, buying food and amusement, ahead of the bug's desire to live. And that's just a natural part of life for all species as members of the food chain on this planet.
So in my opinion, no, I don't think Thrylix is "wrong", he's just living his life doing what a human at the top of the food chain has the privilege of doing. In my mind, if a "higher power" didn't want it to be this way, then our planet would not have been designed the way it is, with an ecosystem and food chain that are dependent on certain species dominating others in order for all species to ultimately survive.
This is an awesome discussion though, and it's interesting to hear what everyone thinks about this. Thanks for starting it 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 ants. I told him to bend down and kiss my stinking feet. I know, not nice, heh.
I've been stepping on bugs my whole life. I know jains respect all life and believe that my actions are 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 someone's 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 and that by contrast, I'm a giant.
Do you think stepping on bugs is wrong - why or why not?
Are you sure you are 21? You seem more like 10. I advise you to seek help. Children that kill small animals often grow up to be serial killers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unsettomati
It's not the ants that concern me, but your emotionally stunted need to elevate yourself in this manner is setting off all sorts of alarms bells.
Hear! Hear!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thrylix
I've stepped on probably hundreds of bugs or more in my life, most of them on purpose.
That says a lot about you. Get help before you are old enough to leave school and enter into the world on your own.
that doesn't mean i don't feel bad i am killing a lifeform. If fact, when i feel bad,i might kill two, just so I understand my "feeling" may not be the most reasonable logic behind the choice.
but, I have to be clear ... If people can torture large/small animals ... that is a major issue also.
that doesn't mean i don't feel bad i am killing a lifeform. If fact, when i feel bad,i might kill two, just so I understand my "feeling" may not be the most reasonable logic behind the choice.
but, I have to be clear ... If people can torture large/small animals ... that is a major issue also.
I don't think i ever killed a bug for no reason. In fact, I don't know of a single person that did, I don't think so anyway?
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