Vasco Grilo🔸 comments on Effects on microorganisms are much larger than those on animals and plants under the assumptions of Rethink Priorities’ mainline welfare ranges?

[Vasco Grilo🔸]

Thanks, Nick. Here are the estimates from the book.

The mean for:

• Pigs is 85.4 % (= 0.44/​0.515) of the estimate in RP’s post.

• Chickens is 1.20 (= 0.40/​0.332) times the estimate in RP’s post.

• Carp is 2.70 (= 0.24/​0.089) times the estimate in RP’s post.

• Octopuses is 1.27 (= 0.27/​0.213) times the estimate in RP’s post.

• Shrimp is 8.71 (= 0.27/​0.031) times the estimate in RP’s post.

• Black soldier flies (BSF) is 5.62 (= 0.073/​0.013) times the estimate in RP’s post.

There were significant updates for carp, shrimp, and BSF. @vicky_cox, @Neil_Dullaghan🔹 , and @Vince Mak 🔸, you may want to consider the welfare ranges from Bob’s book instead of those from RP’s post, and stop using the value from RP’s post respecting silkworms to model the benefits of interventions targeting farmed arthropods. Bob said “What we [RP] stand behind now is really just what we published in the book”, and this does not have estimates for the welfare range of larvae.

The higher values for shrimp and BSF also make me think one would obtain larger welfare ranges applying the book’s methodology to less complex organisms (although I know it is not supposed to be extended).

I am not sure whether RP stands by the book’s means or medians. Could you clarify this, Bob? In any case, they do not differ much.