This piece exposes an unsolved scientific mystery regarding the capacity of certain organisms, like mosquitoes, to experience high levels of pain. Is the brain of a mosquito endowed with the complexity required to perceive strong affective states? This question is not only crucial for the calculation of moral weights but is also a fascinating topic in itself.
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. 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.
If this is the case, the hedonic capacity would differ far more between mosquitoes and humans than between humans and other cognitively complex animals that need to make decisions over a much more nuanced range of choices—indexed with several levels of affective intensity. Mosquitoes, therefore, might not experience more than the lowest intensity levels of suffering—something that, if true, would actually be excellent news.
Anyhow, this is a challenge that science needs to address with urgency.
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.
This piece exposes an unsolved scientific mystery regarding the capacity of certain organisms, like mosquitoes, to experience high levels of pain. Is the brain of a mosquito endowed with the complexity required to perceive strong affective states? This question is not only crucial for the calculation of moral weights but is also a fascinating topic in itself.
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. 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.
If this is the case, the hedonic capacity would differ far more between mosquitoes and humans than between humans and other cognitively complex animals that need to make decisions over a much more nuanced range of choices—indexed with several levels of affective intensity. Mosquitoes, therefore, might not experience more than the lowest intensity levels of suffering—something that, if true, would actually be excellent news.
Anyhow, this is a challenge that science needs to address with urgency.
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.