“For example, Brian Tomasik has suggested paying farmers to use humane insecticides. Calculations suggest that this could prevent 250,000 painful deaths per dollar.”
I’m cautious about the sign of this. Given that insects are expected to have net negative lives anyway, perhaps speeding up their death is actually the preferable choice. Unless we think that an insect dying of pesticide is more painful than them dying naturally plus the pain throughout the rest of their life.
But overall, I would support the recommendation that OPP supports WAS research.
The “Humane Insecticides” article talks about using different insecticides that are equally lethal, rather than reducing insecticide use. (It expresses similar concerns as those you raise about the sign of reducing insecticide use.) The 250,000 number is an amount of pain equivalent to that many pesticide deaths.
That said, I’m somewhat skeptical about the number quoted in the article because it ignores a lot of costs (e.g., setup costs, identifying the right alternative chemicals, etc.). I first wrote it in 2007 when I was less attuned to the arguments for conservatism in cost-effectiveness estimates.
Still, some other estimates suggest similar orders of magnitude for how much expected insect suffering can be prevented per dollar, although these interventions are mostly more controversial (and more speculative).
Thanks for writing this. One small critique:
“For example, Brian Tomasik has suggested paying farmers to use humane insecticides. Calculations suggest that this could prevent 250,000 painful deaths per dollar.”
I’m cautious about the sign of this. Given that insects are expected to have net negative lives anyway, perhaps speeding up their death is actually the preferable choice. Unless we think that an insect dying of pesticide is more painful than them dying naturally plus the pain throughout the rest of their life.
But overall, I would support the recommendation that OPP supports WAS research.
Hi Michael :)
The “Humane Insecticides” article talks about using different insecticides that are equally lethal, rather than reducing insecticide use. (It expresses similar concerns as those you raise about the sign of reducing insecticide use.) The 250,000 number is an amount of pain equivalent to that many pesticide deaths.
That said, I’m somewhat skeptical about the number quoted in the article because it ignores a lot of costs (e.g., setup costs, identifying the right alternative chemicals, etc.). I first wrote it in 2007 when I was less attuned to the arguments for conservatism in cost-effectiveness estimates.
Still, some other estimates suggest similar orders of magnitude for how much expected insect suffering can be prevented per dollar, although these interventions are mostly more controversial (and more speculative).