Killing bugs - is it wrong?

[Mr.Squishy]

When they come into my room and have the balls to fly around me is when I find it acceptable to kill them. Just don't torture them, I feel bad when I don't kill it swiftly.

Ditto. These are my standards. If a fly is trying to find its way into my eyes/mouth/nose etc, I should be permitted to kick its ass into a wall. Sadisticaly torturing a lower being is just sad in my opinion

I am unoriginal and will therefore let this express my opinions.

 

[Wintermoot]

nope they shouldnt have been bugs if they didnt want to die

 

[flaming_squirrel]

The only thing I'll kill are mosquitos and ants (only if they're trying to invade my house again).

Anything goes out the windows as if it's not causing me a problem, what right do I have to kill it?
When trying to repell the first ant invasion I did feel a pang of guilt for killing a family of pillbugs by accident with poison, they didnt need to die but I wasnt careful enough.

 

[PixieFace]

If I find a bug in my room I scoop it up on a piece of paper and toss it back outside. If I find a big spider, I swat it quickly out of pretty reasonable fear. Florida spiders aren't the worst, but they aren't full of sunshine and rainbows either. I had a friend go to the ER the other week for a brown recluse bite. If he had gone in a day later, he would have died, or - best case scenario - gotten an entire leg amputated. I don't mess around with spiders, no sir.

Same with cockroaches and silver fish because they're pests invading my home and carrying disease into it. The thing that bothers me is torture of insects. Yeah, I hate spiders, but it's just inhuman to pluck their legs off for fun.

I remember screaming at this girl I saw in elementary school drown a lizard in a tub of glue for kicks. When baby frogs by my middle school started hopping around during spring, I would rush to rescue them while boys tried to smash as many of them as possible, trying to 'beat me' as though it was a game. When I was playing with this awesome massive beetle in high school, some obviously hardcore kid ran over, snatched it, and plucked it's head off right in front of me, laughing that he killed it to impress all his gawthy friends.

How is any of that right? Killing a living creature for fun? And no, before you say anything, I don't agree with hunting animals for sport, but I strongly agree with hunting for food because that is the nature of our world. I can't comprehend people who cause bugs or animals pain for shits and giggles. It's just like... Come one guys, we're humans. We should be better than that.

 

[ucciolord1]

I don't know if it's 'wrong,' but my hippie heart cringes every time I see it happen.

 

[Kagim]

If insects take up residence in my home damn skippy i am going to kill them.

If i am not in my house i kill them if they attack. Otherwise i leave them alone. I also have a tendency to push kids who torture ants.

 

[Sebenko]

There is nothing wrong with it. Anyone who tells you otherwise is someone who had a petrock and got angry if they dropped it, or gets angry if you step on grass. There are literally billions of them. You can argue there are billions of humans, we can't reproduce nearly as fast as them, and we serve a much greater purpose than they do.
Do I say you could go into an ecosystem where there are no humans, bugs play an important role, and create a super animal that can counter it in every way? No. If the bugs are bothering you anywhere humans frequent, you have every right.

You know, without bees we'd only live a matter of weeks?

So by what measure do we serve a "much greater purpose"?

You know that can't be true. The bees are not around most of the year. Like most bugs they come back in the summer - disappear for the winter.

Oh, I'm sure the human race keeps enough supplies in winter for a sudden lack of new food growth in the summer. Yeah.

Have you seen how much food it takes to supply a navy ship at sea takes? and that's only a couple of thousand people at most.

 

[manaman]

There is nothing wrong with it. Anyone who tells you otherwise is someone who had a petrock and got angry if they dropped it, or gets angry if you step on grass. There are literally billions of them. You can argue there are billions of humans, we can't reproduce nearly as fast as them, and we serve a much greater purpose than they do.
Do I say you could go into an ecosystem where there are no humans, bugs play an important role, and create a super animal that can counter it in every way? No. If the bugs are bothering you anywhere humans frequent, you have every right.

You know, without bees we'd only live a matter of weeks?

So by what measure do we serve a "much greater purpose"?

You know that can't be true. The bees are not around most of the year. Like most bugs they come back in the summer - disappear for the winter.

Oh, I'm sure the human race keeps enough supplies in winter for a sudden lack of new food growth in the summer. Yeah.

Have you seen how much food it takes to supply a navy ship at sea takes? and that's only a couple of thousand people at most.

Just saying you might want to say that as, wouldn't last more then a year without bees. Even that is more society. People would still be around for a while.

 

[crudus]

My questions to you Escapists are:

Do you feel it is wrong to kill insects/other bugs?

Under what circumstances do you think it is morally acceptable?

Do you feel a pang of guilt for crushing a bug that wasn't harming you in any way?

1. nope
2. self-defense
3 Now I don't go out of my way to kill a bug,[footnote]unless my girlfriend with withholding sex until I kill the spider she saw in the bathroom. If our positions were switch I would want him to do the same.[/footnote] but if I pour salt onto snails and just pulled legs off a bug one at a time I would indeed feel guilty. If I were to do that for whatever reason I would have the decency to kill it first(as painlessly as possible).

 

[Sebenko]

There is nothing wrong with it. Anyone who tells you otherwise is someone who had a petrock and got angry if they dropped it, or gets angry if you step on grass. There are literally billions of them. You can argue there are billions of humans, we can't reproduce nearly as fast as them, and we serve a much greater purpose than they do.
Do I say you could go into an ecosystem where there are no humans, bugs play an important role, and create a super animal that can counter it in every way? No. If the bugs are bothering you anywhere humans frequent, you have every right.

You know, without bees we'd only live a matter of weeks?

So by what measure do we serve a "much greater purpose"?

Yes, I realize that about bees. The fact of the matter is, unless there is some sort of unified effort on it, one human could not kill an notable amount of bees. We, as a species have recognized that we need bees, as I recall several efforts supporting them. To further add on to that, a majority of humans are scared of bees, and I know several who run should they even see one. To further that point, there are bee farms, meaning that we have some sort of effort to use them for honey. For pollination, there are plenty of areas where humans don't frequent that i'm sure there are tons of bees. If you're talking you find one in new york city, I'm sure someone would try, but they have a nasty sting and a habit of getting away quickly. Finally, I believe that according to what humans have completed thus far, and the ability of conscious thought, we deserve to research, expand, and live upon this planet which we were put on.

Sorry for long post.

Colony collapse disorder. Look it up.

And anything that requires something else to exist cannot be considered a greater need.

Food is a greater need than science, for example. (Although, really, that's a bad example, as they're linked now, and will continue to be if we want to feed the human race)

People would still be around for a while.

I hope by a while you mean however long it takes to starve to death.

pretty much everything is pollinated by bees- trees, flowers, vegetables.

 

[Kiriona]

When they come into my room and have the balls to fly around me is when I find it acceptable to kill them. Just don't torture them, I feel bad when I don't kill it swiftly.

...L.O.L.
Pretty much how I feel... How DARE they come into MY house and buzz around my face!

OT: I guess it depends on your idea of 'the sanctity of life.' Is ALL life sacred? Or do we get to choose what life is sacred? Personally, I don't think ANY life is sacred... but then, I'm an antisocial homebody with a psychotic hatred for people.

 

[fenrizz]

As pests, everyone is an insects predator.
Should you go out of your way to kill a bug? No.
Should you be cruel in the methods you kill them? No.
Is it bad that you kill bugs that are bothering you? No.

I completely agree with this.
Kill them, but don't be cruel.

 

[Grounogeos]

Even though there are more insects on the planet than all the other animals combined, I won't kill them without a good reason. Senseless killing is one of the defining traits of humans, and it's one of the ones I hate the most.

Most insects I find I leave alone, but if it's a fly, mosquito, or a bee in the house, I'll squash it; flies because they crawl all over food after being born in the fucking garbage (and the buzzing drives me crazy), mosquitoes for obvious reasons, and bees (when they're inside) because I'm allergic and have a tendency to freak out when they come near me.

 

[CoverYourHead]

If they invade my territory their lives are forfeit. Those little buggers are really annoying.

 

[duckfi8]

If it is this eliminate it with extreme prejudice.

 

[childofbodom]

For the first question I say: Yes AND no. The explanation to this is explained on question 2: Yes, if it has in any way threatened or harmed you. And for the third: Yes, sometimes I actually do. Because they haven't done anything to me or anyone else that I know of. Though I killed a wasp recently, not because it directly threatened anyone, but because of the sympathy towards others (allergics and such). I am in no way buddhist or hippies, but life should be treasured, even if it's not your own, or human.

 

[InnerRebellion]

I used to capture bugs and put them in a box and fight to the death...

 

[A random person]

I kill things that fly around in my room, roaches (OK, they're actually Palmetto beetles), and otherwise pests. I don't kill harmless bugs like Ladybugs, however, and my dad got angry at me when I killed a caterpillar in rage.

 

[manaman]

People would still be around for a while.

I hope by a while you mean however long it takes to starve to death.

pretty much everything is pollinated by bees- trees, flowers, vegetables.

Funny they are also pollinated by some flies, butterflies, and some birds. Bees may by far be the most effective pollinator, but they are not by far the only one. On top of that: Some 80% of the food crops require pollination to seed, that leaves 20% that don't as well as the fact that around 66% to 75% of the food delivered to market is dependent on animal pollinators in the modern industry. Humans would still be around even if all the bees disappeared. You might note I never said there would be a lot of them, but people would still be around.