The Cumulative Pain analyses assume that the range of pain intensities varies from No-Pain to Excruciating in any sentient species. This range is needed in the method to make it flexible and adaptable across diverse taxa.
I have one question related to this. Feel free to reply there.
Nevertheless, I personally believe that the range of different intensities of affective experiences evolved to match increasing levels of behavioral options, which are only possible with greater cognitive complexity. A mosquito, with an ephemeral lifespan and very limited behavioral choices, would not have been shaped by natural selection to require a wide range of affective intensities.
In agreement with this, “I guess 1 mosquito-year of fully healthy life is 1.3 % as good as 1 human-year of fully healthy life, which is RP’s median welfare range of black soldier flies[1]”. I would be curious to know if you think the welfare range of mosquitoes is much smaller than 1.3 % as large as that of humans, defining welfare range as the difference between the maximum and minimum lifetime welfare per time[1].
The welfare range is smaller than the difference between the maximum and minimum instantaneous welfare per time, as the intensity of one instant can be much greater than that of a lifetime.
Thanks for the comment, Wladimir!
I have one question related to this. Feel free to reply there.
In agreement with this, “I guess 1 mosquito-year of fully healthy life is 1.3 % as good as 1 human-year of fully healthy life, which is RP’s median welfare range of black soldier flies[1]”. I would be curious to know if you think the welfare range of mosquitoes is much smaller than 1.3 % as large as that of humans, defining welfare range as the difference between the maximum and minimum lifetime welfare per time[1].
The welfare range is smaller than the difference between the maximum and minimum instantaneous welfare per time, as the intensity of one instant can be much greater than that of a lifetime.