Last week I wrote a post on how I felt guilty about killing a mosquito. When my dad, the all-time-tropical-diseases-expert-epidemiologist read this, he came running to inform me that I was wrong about how mosquitoes function and that they are actually a danger to humans and have killed THOUSANDS of people. I also got several comments explaining why I was wrong for feeling guilty.
So I had no idea what I was talking about.
Mosquitoes actually need blood to PRODUCE eggs which they will then lay in water, NOT to FEED their babies. Once they lay their eggs, they never return, they just continue their blood-sucking adventures. There are TONS of mosquito eggs in pond waters and lake waters.
Mosquitoes transmit very serious diseases, like Malaria, Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, and much more.
Now that I know all of this, I feel much less guilty about killing that mosquito. I hate them more than ever. I guess my hatred for mosquitoes is what separates me from Jainism (Jainism is a Hindu religion where it is believed that no living being should be killed... jains go around with a brush in their hand to swipe away all insects from their passage that they might step on and kill otherwise).
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