Moths, like other insects, have a nervous system that allows them to respond to harmful stimuli. While they can react to pain, it’s different from how humans experience it. Insects don’t have the same kind of pain perception or emotional experience that mammals do. Instead, their responses are more about survival and avoiding harm. So, while moths can sense and react to injury, it’s not quite the same as the conscious experience of pain that humans have.
You are simply stating as fact things that others in the thread have cast serious doubt on. The article by Lars Chittka linked above by deboas in particular signals to me that there is not scientific consensus around the belief that insects do not have a “conscious experience of pain.”
Some people (like myself) have internal monologues, and it’s impossible for me to imagine what human consciousness could be like without a sort of running internal vocalization of my thoughts. But, I have lived with people who have no internal monologue at all, and they have certainly been conscious. Probably even as conscious as me, if it makes sense to measure such things ;)
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I currently make my living editing research papers. When the Methods section describes implanting a pressure band on a mouse’s nerve to “model” chronic pain, and this methodology passed ethical review, it shows the depth of denial.
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It’s never a “waste of time” to consider how another feels. I DO think all creatures feel pain, otherwise, why would they recoil from even the lightest of touches? Sensitivity is part of being ALIVE, whether Fauna or Flora! …read “The Plant Eaters” ! Astounding!!!
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Thank you for this recommendation! I have just received my copy and after only completing the introduction I know it is going to be a fantastic read.
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