The issue, though, is not that beliefs are founded on no evidence. Rather, it is that they are founded on insufficient evidence. It would, in my estimation, require some strange, inhuman bigot to say such a thing; rather, they will hold up their prejudices based on evidence which sounds entirely reasonable to them. There is nearly always a justification for treating the other tribe poorly; healthy human psychology doesn’t do well with baseless discrimination, so it invents (more accurately, seeks out with a hefty does of confirmation bias) reasons that its discrimination is well-founded.
In this case, the fact that ants do not appear to be affected by narcotics is evidence that they are different from humans, but it seems that it is insufficient to discount their suffering. I am very curious, however, as to why a lack of behavioral reaction to narcotics indicates that ant suffering is morally neutral. I feel that there is an implicit step I missed there.
I’m Alex, an American male doing undergraduate studies in Physics and Computer Science. Two years ago, I stumbled upon HPMoR, and made my way to this site shortly after. I’ve been lurking since, and in that time, I’ve seen top-level posts that have convinced me to abandon my half-formed theism, try out the pomodoro method (results still pending), and police myself for biases. I’m interested in lifehacking (though I acknowledge that I have a great deal of inertia in that area), and will be trying Soylent at some point in the next few months.