selective compassion

[miriam_e]

Insects and arachnids are both arthropods. They are animals with their skeletons on the outside. They are very different from us vertebrates with our internal skeletons and soft, fleshy exteriors. Spiders are poisonous and feed upon mostly insects. Wasps are poisonous and many of them find spiders to feed to their young. There is a kind of equivalence in lifeform and lifestyle.

So why did I let a wasp escape out my kitchen window tonight away from the spider?

I like spiders and I like wasps... but I somehow felt more compassion for the pretty wasp and saved it, condemning the equally pretty spider to go without a meal.

Why?

Comments

[greylock.livejournal.com]

You are a Kirk-style Captain, rather than a Picard, obviously.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

I'm stumped. Of all the possible responses that flitted through my head I never entertained anything remotely like this. I am puzzled at what you mean. I used to watch the early Star Treks when I was young, but stopped after a while, finding the idea of the future being defined by military hierarchy too depressing. I missed out on the Next Generation almost entirely. Later I watched a bit of Voyager and found it a bit easier to take, but still found the militarism stuck in my throat. Enterprise sadly struck me as something as close to devoid of real SF as it is possible to do while making an SF series, and I endured very few of those.

So, Kirk vs Picard style??? I'm at a loss. :)

[greylock.livejournal.com]

So, Kirk vs Picard style??? I'm at a loss. :)

Briefly speaking: Kira-era Trek (well, Kirk) would say "Damn the Prime Directive, we're here to interfere" and would save the wasp because it was life, Jim, whereas Picard-era Trek would moralise over the rights and wrongs of the Prime Directive, and might well allow the wasp to die in the name of ideology.

I could explain further, but it comes down to the difference, broadly, between Action and Debate.

I could have, 15 years ago, further drawn parallels between Trek and US attitudes to foreign policy, but the bit of my brain that remembers such things as Great Thinkers has been dulled.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Thank you. That is very interesting. I'll have to ponder that some more... especially the concept of popular entertainment reflecting US foreign policy.

I've often worried about the US moving more and more to becoming a warrior culture. I hope we don't follow that scary trend.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

I should add that what stories I did watch of Star Trek, especially the first ones, I did enjoy. Mostly the SF was pretty good. It was just that the military stuff was always there and felt like listening to a good piece of music with a sharp, constant, high-pitched tone screeching all the way through it. At first I could ignore it and enjoy the entertainment, but after a while it grated more and more. Eventually it set my teeth on edge so much I couldn't bear it anymore. It's a pity, because a lot of great SF writers worked on those early shows. I'm sure there would have been a lot on the Next Generation episodes too. There seemed to be fewer good writers on Voyager, and none on Enterprise (at least the episodes I saw).

[qu-is.livejournal.com]

I've had a similar thought from time to time.

Firstly it depends on what it cost you to help – for example you may help the wasp today as it costs you nothing, but if it started to build a nest near were you want to be able to relax, you may hinder it -
You will, most likely, put your own interests ahead of a wasp's.

If it does not cost you to help, then more often then not I think we help the one that has more to lose.
- By helping the wasp you allowed it to live longer then it would have if you allowed the spider a meal. The spider misses a meal but, although it might go hungry it should not directly mean that it will die. So the loss is less for the spider then the wasp.

However if you stop to think about it I think it would be more beneficial to help the spider because, (assuming it is not dangerous) it is more beneficial to the micro-system environment (by controlling the numbers of other more annoying insects) then wasps, who although pretty and usually harmless can cause pain and are not specifically useful (to my knowledge).

It is hard to be consistent either way - sometimes.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Really nice analysis. I'd been coming to similar conclusions myself. What clinched it for me was when a March Fly got into the kitchen yesterday. March flies are amazing creatures. They are large -- about an inch long -- biting flies and they hurt like hell when they ram that large proboscis into your flesh to have a drink of blood. I think only the female drinks blood, and only when it comes time to get an extra boost of protein so she can lay her eggs. The rest of the time I believe March Flies drink nectar from flowers.

Anyway I had this March Fly in the kitchen. I didn't want to leave it inside the house and I didn't really want to release it because I've been doing a fair bit of clothes washing lately and been bitten by a few of the damn things while hanging out the washing outside my kitchen.

So what did I do? I helped the spider entangle it in its web. Boy, do I feel guilty about that. Without my help the spider would never have caught the fly. March Flies are big and strong, and can rip their way through most web, but I turned it over in the web so its feet couldn't drag it to freedom. Gah! Horrible! I feel quite awful about it. (Though I'm sure I'd have the spider's vote of thanks if it knew how on Earth it had landed such a giant meal.)

[qu-is.livejournal.com]

Don't feel too guilty... I'm not sure how long march flies live anyway, but at least it died to another's benefit rather then the pointless death of being swatted.

I've had to vacuum up all these ants lately because they keep getting into my bathroom despite my attempts to block access. It feels awful when I think about it too much. Here I am totally outside their comprehension seeping in to create total destruction when they are simply exploring new territory.

such is life.