King Solomon and the Ant
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There are many stories and traditions about "the great king gets perspective"... I also like the tradition that if you were some great Roman general being cheered by a crowd you should have a guy who follows you about whispering "memento mori*" in your ear.
These are things we have understood for a long time in many human cultures.
Now why am I going on about this and feeling exasperated? Hm.
*remember you will someday die
@futurebird Every good army lives and fights by it's Sergeants.
Royalty is a drag on any economy, even a non-capitalist economy.
Reproduction is just one of the criteria for life, but energy transfer, response to stimuli, homeostasis, movement, can only be accomplished by adult workers.
If you consider the colony to be a single animal, the queen is the uterus, important, sure, but no one thnks the uterus is the only driver of the animal. The workers are the brains, AND the hands.
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@futurebird Every good army lives and fights by it's Sergeants.
Royalty is a drag on any economy, even a non-capitalist economy.
Reproduction is just one of the criteria for life, but energy transfer, response to stimuli, homeostasis, movement, can only be accomplished by adult workers.
If you consider the colony to be a single animal, the queen is the uterus, important, sure, but no one thnks the uterus is the only driver of the animal. The workers are the brains, AND the hands.
@futurebird But if you look at the older workers, or majors, there is no sign of central authority, is there? DO you see one or two, older, senior ants running around tapping the others telling them what to do? I don't know but I doubt it.
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@futurebird But if you look at the older workers, or majors, there is no sign of central authority, is there? DO you see one or two, older, senior ants running around tapping the others telling them what to do? I don't know but I doubt it.
Older more experienced ants will take charge and heard others. Or simply ants that feel they have better information.
If an ant *really* wants another ant to come to a location and she isn't following she may pick her sister up and simply carry her to the task or problem she wants help with.
(I sometimes wish someone would do this with me.)
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@futurebird But if you look at the older workers, or majors, there is no sign of central authority, is there? DO you see one or two, older, senior ants running around tapping the others telling them what to do? I don't know but I doubt it.
@futurebird I think my point is the same as yours though... who or what is really in charge? At ANY level? Do we know? Are we sure? Why? Because some people voted for him and others are doing it? Because he's laying a BUNCH of eggs?
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@futurebird But if you look at the older workers, or majors, there is no sign of central authority, is there? DO you see one or two, older, senior ants running around tapping the others telling them what to do? I don't know but I doubt it.
But "ant leadership" is very small and local. Maybe one ant leads five or six sisters at most.
But never any large portion of the whole colony. That is a network.
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@futurebird I think my point is the same as yours though... who or what is really in charge? At ANY level? Do we know? Are we sure? Why? Because some people voted for him and others are doing it? Because he's laying a BUNCH of eggs?
Is that why everyone kept talking about eggs during the last election?
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Older more experienced ants will take charge and heard others. Or simply ants that feel they have better information.
If an ant *really* wants another ant to come to a location and she isn't following she may pick her sister up and simply carry her to the task or problem she wants help with.
(I sometimes wish someone would do this with me.)
Do two ants ever try to pick each other up?
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Do two ants ever try to pick each other up?
I have not seen ants trying to pick each other up, but I did see two minums fighting over who would carry a much younger (and much larger) major somewhere. They both were struggling to move her since she was so much larger, but if one would rest the other would take the big ant's mandible and run off with her as the other one followed.
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Older more experienced ants will take charge and heard others. Or simply ants that feel they have better information.
If an ant *really* wants another ant to come to a location and she isn't following she may pick her sister up and simply carry her to the task or problem she wants help with.
(I sometimes wish someone would do this with me.)
Aren't there a few species of ant that are migratory?
Someone must be leading them? I assume not the queen because that would be reckless, but there's got to be someone at the front of the line.
Anyway, we should find that ant. See if she's got any advice for the rest of us.
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Aren't there a few species of ant that are migratory?
Someone must be leading them? I assume not the queen because that would be reckless, but there's got to be someone at the front of the line.
Anyway, we should find that ant. See if she's got any advice for the rest of us.
Wrong Answer: There is no "lead ant" since the river of ants extends all the way around the world and it never ends. BEHOLD!
