Is eating insects more ethical then farm animals ?

[Jannes]

I want this to be a purely ethical discussion. Even if you are a pro meat eater you are welcome to participate in this discussion. Its not about what you should or shouldnt do, but to arrive at an answer of what would theoretically be more ethical to eat, insects or meat from farm animals. 

...

The main argument for eating insects over regular livestock is that insects seem to be a lot less sentient. On the other hand you need hundreds or thounsands of them to get the same calories as one livestock animal. 

There are different methods to kill them. The most humane one seems to be to freeze them, but there are pretty brutal ones from boiling them or roasting them alive. 

What has to be kept in mind is that insects are so different from humans, we likely have a lot of speciesism towards them, so that bias needs to be made conscious for a truthful discussion. 

 

Edited 17 hours ago by Jannes

[Basman]

We already have less compassion towards fish compared to mammals. Insects are cooked when it comes to human ethical consideration for the most part.

A lot of the emotion behind veganism is inherently centered behind a speciest bias towards mammals.

I for one would pay good money if they sold witchetty grubs at the super. That's good eating. Get some sweet chilli, some finely chopped onion and complementary spices cooked on a thin blanket of oil. Holy~🔥

[Hojo]

Id say its worse. You gotta kill like 1000 things instead of one.

[Leo Gura]

Sure, but it is gross.

No one is going to sustain a diet of insect meat. They are minor snacks at best. It is easier to get people to just go vegetarian and eliminates all your ethics issues.

Edited 13 hours ago by Leo Gura

[Natasha Tori Maru]

I think we already eat them - isn't additive E120 made of insects? Red dye in foods

Edited 12 hours ago by Natasha Tori Maru

[Hojo]

Each insect is like a super sayian. Killing 1 retarded weak deer vs 1000 super sayians. The insect overlords will get angry. Which would you rather fight a weak deer God or a fly God? The fly or ant gods are much more powerful.

Edited 11 hours ago by Hojo

[Ramasta9]

Think of it this way, the more conscious and intelligent the animal/insect "living being" the greater the karma you will have to face.

[Hojo]

@Ramasta9What do you think is more intelligent an ant or a deer?

Edited 10 hours ago by Hojo

[Ramasta9]

2 hours ago, Hojo said:

@Ramasta9What do you think is more intelligent an ant or a deer?

Intelligence is a tough one, It may not been the best word/example. A deer is definitively a more conscious, feeling, sensing being and closer to human, thus bigger karmic-imprint. We step on ants daily without feeling much, if you killed a dear you would feel a lot and will have to carry the weight of the suffering/being you killed and much more to deal with/transmute.

I notice when i accidentally step on snails, i feel sad for them, and the energy lingers a bit but not as much as when i accidentally kill a bird while driving, i have to stop and cry sometimes. If you intentionally killed any insect in front of me it would really upset me but accidents have a different energy altogether but still make me slow down, and correct myself.

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Ramasta9

[Jannes]

What I find so fascinating is that you cant really compare the sum of many little sentiences with one big one. 

You cant really compare 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + ... < 830 (lets say a cow)

Because all the 1s and the 830 is of a different quality alltogether and adding all the 1s together will not result in a 830, but in 830 1s if that makes sense. 

[Jannes]

9 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Sure, but it is gross.

No one is going to sustain a diet of insect meat. They are minor snacks at best. 

Partially its habit. You can also make flour or patties out of them. It could be part of the answer.

9 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

It is easier to get people to just go vegetarian and eliminates all your ethics issues.

Is animal ethics concerns not something universal, like the expansion of consciousness, in your opinion?

Edited 4 hours ago by Jannes

[Jannes]

6 hours ago, Ramasta9 said:

Think of it this way, the more conscious and intelligent the animal/insect "living being" the greater the karma you will have to face.

Yeah but its hunderds to thousands little "karmas" compared to a big one.