The critical question is whether shrimp or insects can support the kinds of negative states that make suffering severe, rather than merely possible.
I think suffering matters proportionally to its intensity. So I would not neglect mild suffering in principle, although it may not matter much in practice due to contributing little to total expected suffering.
In any case, I would agree the total expected welfare of farmed invertebrates may be tiny compared with that of humans due invertebratesâ experiences having a very low intensity. For expected individual welfare per fully-healthy-animal-year proportional to âindividual number of neuronsâ^âexponentâ, and âexponentâ from 0.5 to 1.5, which I believe covers reasonable best guesses, I estimatethat the expected total welfare of farmed shrimps ranges from â0.282 to â2.82*10^-7 times that of humans, and that of farmed black soldier fly (BSF) larvae and mealworms from â4.80*10^-4 to â6.23*10^-11 times that of humans. In addition, I calculate the Shrimp Welfare Projectâs (SWPâs) Humane Slaughter Initiative (HSI) has increased the welfare of shrimps 0.00167 (= 2.06*10^5/â0.0123) to 1.67 k (= 20.6/â0.0123) times as cost-effectively as GiveWellâs top charities increase the welfare of humans.
I think suffering matters proportionally to its intensity. So I would not neglect mild suffering in principle, although it may not matter much in practice due to contributing little to total expected suffering.
In any case, I would agree the total expected welfare of farmed invertebrates may be tiny compared with that of humans due invertebratesâ experiences having a very low intensity. For expected individual welfare per fully-healthy-animal-year proportional to âindividual number of neuronsâ^âexponentâ, and âexponentâ from 0.5 to 1.5, which I believe covers reasonable best guesses, I estimate that the expected total welfare of farmed shrimps ranges from â0.282 to â2.82*10^-7 times that of humans, and that of farmed black soldier fly (BSF) larvae and mealworms from â4.80*10^-4 to â6.23*10^-11 times that of humans. In addition, I calculate the Shrimp Welfare Projectâs (SWPâs) Humane Slaughter Initiative (HSI) has increased the welfare of shrimps 0.00167 (= 2.06*10^5/â0.0123) to 1.67 k (= 20.6/â0.0123) times as cost-effectively as GiveWellâs top charities increase the welfare of humans.