OP reminds me of the “evil kid” from a certain dreamworks movie:

That movie, Antz, was sort of chilling to watch when I was a kid. Especially the part where the kid was trying to crush the ants. I remember being quite stricken by the fact that at least in the movie they were sentient... they were basically people.

As I suggested above in the post, it takes the expression "going out of your way to kill something" to a whole new level. Even still, there are likely people who disapprove of me stepping on ants for no reason, but would condone (or perhaps even celebrate) the above. Makes you think. :razz: — IanBlain

If you were to scale up what you do to the ants and compared it to the fishermen and trophy hunters, you are worse than both. Doesn’t matter how much more complex elephants are. What are you doing is destruction on a mass scale to them. Think: you are messing with anthill would be like Godzilla attacking Tokyo. And yes, it is sadistic. Menacing tiny lifeforms so you can feel like the big bad human is sadistic and knuckle-dragging.

You are being a tyrant to them just because you know they can’t do anything about it. Would you kick a bear to see how it reacts, the same way you use your feet to toy with ants? Of course not because you’re opportunistic. Not a positive quality.

Killing individual ants may not matter to you because they are parts of a whole but you are still interfering with their life cycles which impacts the colonys resource and birthing priorities to an unknown extent, requiring them to replace the workers you’ve crushed and devote more to rebuild what you destroyed.

“That is true; ants on the pavement can't move quickly enough to escape. In my experience though, they only run away when they are alone or in very small numbers.. but I am not sure in response to what. Vibration, sight, chemicals? I have noticed their behavior is pretty different when in large groups and near their home. When I step on ant mound and just stand there with my shoe on their home, they scatter chaotically for about a minute but they don't run away or at least they don't go far. Instead they crawl all around and sometimes underneath my shoe trying to get both inside and outside. At least that's based on my observations: and I've stepped on a lot of ants”. — IanBlain

How would you react if an aircraft carrier fell on your neighborhood? The scattering and random movements is not accidental; it is chemically programmed survival. When you brought your crappy shoe down on their home it was like a bomb went off.

Of course they’re going to try and climb out from underneath. It is the tactic they would use against an enemy army. They want and are trying to attack you. Ants are programmed to repel invaders at the site of their home. That white, grass-stained, monstrosity you sadistically chase down the survivors with (so you can “watch their reactions” to being stepped on) is a deadly invader. Your sneaker is an invader. YOU standing over them are an invader.

If they had the chance bite your skin, it would hurt and they could successfully repel you. Ants are evolved to survive attacks from giant invaders and in most cases repel them. The aberrant cruelty you show them doesn’t exist in the wild though; yes, you are an aberration. While other wildlife passing through may accidentally disrupt their home from time to time, they move on unlike you who purposely continues to stand directly on top of their home, knowing full well that your continued presence is causing mass chaos both above and below... a fact which greatly appeals to you.

The problem is although they can repel most animals, they are not evolved to deal with some giant punk purposely dragging his feet over their home repeatedly and squashing anything that moves, nor are they equipped to penetrate man-made objects/running shoes with hard rubber soles and artificial foam cushioning worn by some spoiled, little consumerist punk who already has life too easy as it is.

And when they finally dig an exit and finish coming out to retrieve their dead, you are still there, hovering your dirty, malodorous shoe over their home with a smug grin on your face about to do the same thing to them all over again... again and again until your "curiosity" is sated. Yes, you are sadistic. You like causing as much distress as possible…And unfortunately, all they can do is wait until you are done indulging yourself, lift your crappy foot off their home, and lumber off out of boredom…which is a glaring example of how unfair the universe is.

It's easy to feel like the big bad human in capitalist United States where the animals aren't so dangerous and you live with a surplus of throw-away luxuries. But try doing what you like to do here to an anthill in Africa, where the ants are dangerous and aggressive, and without your manufactured, malodorous footwear. No material possessions. Just you and the ants. Maybe you will find that your hubris has a limit.