F
I want to thank some of you for your comments on this post that have made me realize a few things:
1. When talking about "social media intranets for teens" I need to make it clear I'm NOT talking about anonymous networks. Just like with school email it's one account per person.
2. I should probably define the difference between internet and intranet as well.
3. I'm going to hear "can't do it legal reasons*" over and over and should be ready with the big guns for THAT one.
Mitch couldn't play dominoes. Mitch couldn't play memory. Mitch couldn't have on a pair of socks of the same color.
No, they were always Mitch matched.
OK... whose eggs are these? Chickens?
My ants say their queen can do better than all three. And "git gud"
Doing bee things for bee reasons.
@Bfordham @stefani @michaelgemar @alexwild @MyrmecolNews
How smart could a creature that could *drown* possibly be?
I think it's on the bottom... like a surprise. 
But I think having her there kind of explains why they are... like that.
How would you call 'Stockholm Syndrome' but it is from Chicago and it is about popcorn?
@stefani @michaelgemar @alexwild @MyrmecolNews
Bringing this one back again:
Are Humans Self-Aware? Ants have often tested humans for self awareness. They placed objects in our homes and were shocked we didn't cover them in sand. "Although humans build interesting nests & show signs of cooperation, can they really have rich inner lives like ants? Unlikely." They laid pheromone trails & we ignored them. "Even a newly eclosed callow or a termite could have followed these trails! Human intelligence is perhaps similar to that of a lichen... or perhaps an aphid at best."
Sauropods.win (sauropods.win)
@michaelgemar @alexwild @MyrmecolNews
If more people would just spend sometime watching ants carefully you'd see them making decisions, being confused, getting frustrated, feeling panicked or scared, and being sleepy.
You'd see them struggle and fight each other over who gets to do a task and then stomp off and walk in circles when they don't win.
There is a lot going on.
@michaelgemar @alexwild @MyrmecolNews
It's very contrived how we keep trying to get animals to do "tests" that are centered around things humans care about. People think it's significant to see "yourself" in a mirror.
I suspect that "ant ideas" don't have exactly parallel concepts. That is, I don't know what the test would prove if it worked.
Ants *do* care a lot about having the same pheromone profile as their colony.
Ants do some things we can't. No one likes to sit with that truth.
But they respond by cleaning themselves not attacking.
For the record... I don't find the idea of ants having some "self recognition" impossible or even unlikely.
What I'm getting hung up on is the idea that ants would pay attention to a mirror. Ants have poor vision, they are tactile creatures.
But maybe they ONLY pay attention if their reflection changes?
OK this has gone on long enough!
I'm breaking out the little ant-sized mirrors and the "bee safe paint!"
I have black and yellow and will try this on some of my black carpenter ants.
Covering new things you don't understand with sand is VERY sensible. Something we could learn from the ants IMO.
Here is Anton's video, he's pretty popular for science news, but he only really knows about space.
So a few months back I found a study that tried to do the "mirror test for consciousness" on ants. I remember not being very impressed with the journal where it was published, though I found the topic fascinating.
Anton Petrov has now mentioned this study in one of his videos, which means it's going to spread more.
So... how do the ant people feel about this?
I think the trick is to stop trying to get the cheese to stick to the popcorn and just eat one of each at the same time.
In Chicago they mix their cheesey popcorn with their sweet popcorn and brag about it a lot HOWEVER if you want to make it classy get the caramel corn but serve it with little slices of real sharp cheddar cheese.
Forget the cheese powder.
You are welcome.
