This bug stepping thing was where it all began for my scrupulosity problems, walking home from work days after my bestie had died, which have been the biggest and deadliest challenges of my life since that evening in 2018, and what led me to EA. I didn’t know the science on bugs, still barely do, but knew they seemed alot like animals such as you and I and those cows and chickens we choose not to eat because they are conscious.
Being compassionate in this way—unflinching about when consciousness is consciousness and not abandoning the idea that compassion is respect for the conscious experience—it’s orders of magnitude harder than most of the world somehow accepts it to be. It’d be absolutely mercliess for anyone not to be considered a “good person” anymore when they watch the goalposts for being a “good person” move away so drastically.
I like how you quite compassionately acknowledge this, speaking of crippling intensity and a reasonable line, while all the while being very much open to the idea for a gentler ethic to insects, because you’re unflinching like that. We might as well be if we have a goal of reducing pain in any species, even when perfection is nowhere near possible. It’s the good that comes out of facing such horrifying truth. 🪲
This bug stepping thing was where it all began for my scrupulosity problems, walking home from work days after my bestie had died, which have been the biggest and deadliest challenges of my life since that evening in 2018, and what led me to EA. I didn’t know the science on bugs, still barely do, but knew they seemed alot like animals such as you and I and those cows and chickens we choose not to eat because they are conscious.
Being compassionate in this way—unflinching about when consciousness is consciousness and not abandoning the idea that compassion is respect for the conscious experience—it’s orders of magnitude harder than most of the world somehow accepts it to be. It’d be absolutely mercliess for anyone not to be considered a “good person” anymore when they watch the goalposts for being a “good person” move away so drastically.
I like how you quite compassionately acknowledge this, speaking of crippling intensity and a reasonable line, while all the while being very much open to the idea for a gentler ethic to insects, because you’re unflinching like that. We might as well be if we have a goal of reducing pain in any species, even when perfection is nowhere near possible. It’s the good that comes out of facing such horrifying truth. 🪲