Natures wonders: ant teams carry insects (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, July 29, 2015, 20:52 (3403 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: The team is guided by another ant that comes to direct traffic back to the ant hill:-http://phys.org/news/2015-07-ants-brawn-brains-haul-heavy.html-QUOTES: "In experiments, researchers showed how a dozen or more ants working in unison to haul, say, a large insect can adjust their course based on intelligence provided by a single ant joining the effort.
"Realising somehow that the group is off-course or headed for trouble, the "scout" subtly signalled a needed change in direction by tugging at a different angle. 
"Rather than resisting, the others fell into line.” -DAVID: Ant scouts who bring new information is well known, and this shows how the cooperation works. The scout points out the proper direction. The ants cooperate automatically. It is obviously unknown how much 'thinking' a scout does.-Thank you for another delightful example of ant intelligence. Please note that the ant scout appears to be “no different than the other ants”, which suggests they could all perform the same task. This demands setting up an intelligent scouting system in the first place, processing information, deciding on the best course of action, and communicating that decision to others, who are obviously not stupid enough to argue with the ant who knows the problem and has worked out the solution. Of course it is unknown “how much” they think. What measuring rod can be used to quantify the thoughts of any organism? Just face the fact that ants think. Once more, thank you for providing yet more evidence of something you are so reluctant to acknowledge.