I was at my computer when I noticed an ant perched on the edge of my machine, to the left of my pinky. I wondered how the little creature found its way to my keyboard. The ant decided to go for a walk, and I observed it move in a straight line, changing directions as if it were trying to reconnoiter the whole scene.
I placed my right index finger two inches away from the ant, blocking its path. The ant stopped and changed directions, moving at the same pace. I repeated the obstruction and the ant kept adapting and looking for a way out. Impressed by his performance, I retired my index finger and bid the little guy farewell.
Well, I thought, that ant and I have a big thing in common. We’re both conscious beings. The ant had to be conscious to see and react to my index finger. Given that consciousness, which pervades the whole of living nature, is one of the great scientific mysteries, I feel respect for all life forms and prefer not to kill any animate creatures for no good reason. As far as I was concerned, that ant was a walking wonder
As for insects in general, they’re very interesting. As a life form, they are wildly successful and adaptable to environmental change; 1.2 million diverse species of these arthropods occupy our planet, whereas we mammals make up about 4,000 species. Moreover, bugs thrive anywhere and everywhere, deep in the soil of the Earth and as high in the sky as an airplane.
Even more striking is their sensory apparatus. Insects have large eyes. They see in color and can judge distance; and they can see around themselves, night and day, and, unlike us, can sense ultraviolet, infrared, and polarized light. And consider this fascinating bit: “Smell and taste often blur together and are detected in combined form by chemo receptors all over the bug’s body.” (See below, R. Imes.) What a sensory experience! The whole surface of the body imbued with taste and fragrance—how exotic and surrealistic!
Aside from the amazing nature of insectile life is the fact of it being critical to human survival, being the basis of the of the food supply chain, through pollination, keeping the soil healthy, and bless the scavengers, by decomposing waste and recycling nutrients. The overall effect is to keep a balance in nature, a balance, as we know, disrupted by human technology and insatiable consumerism.
The climate crisis ought to be a reminder of the need for humility. We need to become more aware of the natural world that we depend on for our existence. There’s a whole layer of our collective existence easy to ignore, described in a wonderful book, Incredible Bugs, by Rick Imes, a book that will startle you into awareness of the miraculous ingenuity of life. Insects were the first living creatures to fly, and to their credit, insects turn out to be a big part of bird food. Like the Jain philosophy, abstention from killing other conscious beings (even bugs) is a way of marking the universal bond of all life forms in the bosom of infinite consciousness. I know I’m asking a lot, to respect all forms of life on Earth. It may be a request for the impossible, but the total adventure of life is at stake.
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