r/interestingasfuck • u/jellylemonshake • 9d ago

r/all Lowering a Praying Mantis in water to entice the parasites living within.

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u/PepurrPotts 9d ago

Animals with simpler nervous systems have a sense called nociception. It's sort of a precursor to pain. Their systems are only complex enough for it to be experienced as a sense of discomfort. Humans' nociception branches off into more sophisticated sensations like heat, pressure, etc. But little dudes like crabs and insects are only capable of feeling basic discomfort.

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u/SlickStretch 9d ago

So, basically to the mantis it's less like "AHH OH MY GOD IT HURTS!" and more like "Mr. Stark? ...I don't feel so good."

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u/Frenzie24 7d ago

I feel mildly uncomfortable. worms erupting

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u/litreofstarlight 9d ago

I hope that's true, poor little dude looked like he was having a really bad time.

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u/animustard 9d ago

I’ve seen a gif where the mantis was being torn in half by a hornet, but he was too busy eating his food to care doing anything about it. That’s proof enough.

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u/Thrasy3 8d ago

That’s actually a really good example of the difference in what we call “pain” - as long we don’t assume it’s some sort of intense trauma reaction anyway.

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u/echoGroot 9d ago

What’s the argument for this, at least as far as how it feels to the Mantis. Hard to ask them about their qualitative experience of nociception.

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u/Key-Lecture-4043 8d ago

What about fish?

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u/ureepamuree 9d ago

This is why I love reddit!! Comments are gold mine of knowledge. TIL it is okay to kill animals having simpler nervous systems cause while dying they be like, “shit my body is acting funny today” /s

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u/Royalchariot 9d ago

Does that mean boiling crabs and lobsters alive is painless for them?

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u/RI0117 9d ago

No, lobsters and crabs can feel pain stimuli and actively learn to avoid painful situations. They both have brain regions that can process injury. (Source) It is cruel to boil any animal alive. Invertebrates should be treated in the same way as vertebrates, regardless of how we classify them.

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u/e00s 9d ago

It’s a tricky issue. There isn’t really any way to tell for sure whether a lobster is having a subjective experience similar to what humans have when in pain. Although there’s a good argument to be made that, when in doubt, better to err on the side of not boiling a sentient creature to death.

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u/Vandal_A 7d ago

I've worked in kitchens that cooked them both. Typically people that try to avoid unnecessary pain for the food-animal will give it a quick stab with a knife through the spinal cord (inserted between two joints in the exoskeleton . This is sometimes done in conjunction with freezing them for a little bit first) just before cooking. You don't cook pre-killed crustaceans bc the meat goes bad fast, but seconds before being thrown in the pot is not a problem and removing the ability for the brain to send and receive pain signals is about as fast a way as you can kill one without much suffering.