This is a great question to contemplate. Been contemplating a similar question, myself..pmwhewitt wrote:I'm stuck with what to do! Do I interfere with nature and help the spider, making the other spider lose its meal, or do I let nature take its course, condemning the little spider to death?
I think it entirely depends on what you personally perceive to be a 'wrong'. Is it 'wrong' for one spider to kill and consume another? You see a little spider that is about to sacrifice it's life. You have the impulse to intervene, perhaps identifying with the poor little guy. But wait.. if the predator cannot catch it's prey, it's gonna starve to death. Either way, one of those spiders will perish. This is nature's way. There is just no way around it. If you intervene, the predator will die if it cannot find other sustenance. If you do not intervene, the prey spider will die. Intervene or not.. will it ulitmately make a difference? (Back and forth, round and round you go.. caught up in mind's reasoning).
Nature, it seems, has already determined what is to happen, as you sit there in contemplation. But then you are also a part of nature. If you had decided to intervene, it would have changed the destiny of both of those spider's lives. The 'little' (prey) spider would have gone on to live, and perhaps to reproduce, or perhaps to be another spider's meal OR even to eat another spider HIMSELF! What a conundrum! What is the 'right' thing to do, not knowing the full outcome of all possible events?
It's a judgement call. Most often, it's probably better to let nature take it's course, and not to interfere. But if there is a perceived 'wrong' and you see something that violates your personal values, well, then, you have to decide for yourself whether you should intervene or not.