The Face of a Spider by David Quammen is a story about one day when the author returns home to find his living room filled with black widow spiders - baby ones. Spawned by a single female that Quammen had been avoiding dealing with, the article is about his minor moral crisis, and the major question: How should humans act towards members of the other species? His solution is eye contact.
I participated in the discussion around the question "What is importance if eye contact with other species, according to Quammen?" Before the discussion, I thought that Quammen says it is important to make eye contact because by doing so, we are respecting the other creature as we might another human, and respecting that they may have emotions too. After the discussion, I thought mostly the same thing, but now I thought Quammen emphasized more the emotional aspect over the respect aspect.
The part of the text that led me to thinking was, "Look for signs of embarrassment, rancor, or guilt. Repeat the following formula like a mantra 'This is some mother's darling, this is some mother's child."
When I was listening to the discussion around the question "How should humans behave toward members of the other living species?" I was intrigued when someone expressed the view that humans should seriously empathize with other species, think of them like human beings, and then still kill them. If I could have added a comment to the discussion, I would have replied to a question posed: "In the end, why does the spider hide it's face in 'distrust'?" and said that, in my opinion, Quammen was over-personifying - that it was highly unlikely that a random arachnid should feel distrust at a face that is just one of many goggling through the glass throughout the day.
I think, when a person has to make the decision to kill or not to kill, it definitely makes them a better person, or at least more comfortable as themselves with their views, because it forces them to reflect on themselves. What do they care about more? What, to them, is right or wrong?" At the end of such a reflection, after having make a decision, I feel like a person would feel more comfortable with their views.
Humans, as a species, have made a pretty indecisive choice in this decision. We go all out trying to protect some species, such as polar bears and spotted animals, but practically ignore many others. Why? Well, we can't practically go to either extreme - saving all endangered species or saving none - so we make choices. People are more willing to fund protection for animals that they know about, like a bear or an owl, and an animal that appeals to them, whether it's considered 'cute,' 'cool,' or 'beautiful.'
There have been groups of people who've gone an extreme, like the Jainist religion of India, whose central belief is ahimsa, do no harm. Rigorously devout Jains would do things like refrain from cutting their hair, to avoid hurting lice, and cover their mouth with a cloth, to avoid inhaling gnats. Personally, I think it is a nice idea - sharing the earth without harming other life - but just, in the end, wishful thinking. To exert that much energy against such a natural, relentless instinct, to kill, if necessary, to survive - I just don't think that works,
