Natures wonders: ants who are slave owners (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, March 07, 2019, 20:46 (1878 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: You have altered our conversation by not fully recognizing the authors modified behavior by tailoring genes, nothing more. Of course ant behavior can alter DNA by epigenetics.

dhw: I have not altered anything, and your second comment vindicates everything I have said. We know that scientists can change behaviour by messing about with parts of the brain or body of any organism. This does not mean that in nature those parts of the brain/body spontaneously change themselves BEFORE the organism (in this case ants) adjust their behaviour to suit the needs of the moment. That is why I suggest it is far more likely than in nature the changed behaviour of the ants was the cause and not the result of genetic change.

I've agreed ants can alter their DNA and behavior through epigenetic coding. But that doesn't get around the fact that whatever behavior exists at any given time is due to the DNA that exists at that time.

DAVID: I know you want ants to operate independent of their genes, but there is lots of evidence they are individually automatic forming rafts and bridges.

dhw: I do not believe their genes direct them to build rafts and bridges and whole cities and farming communities and societies in which different members play different roles. I propose that just like other organisms including humans, ants make intelligent decisions, and their bodies make the necessary adjustments to implement their decisions.

DAVID: And I repeat, each individual ant does his programmed individual thing as previously shown.

dhw: You have not previously shown any such thing.

Reread this website presented on Friday, March 02, 2018, 18:44

https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-simple-algorithm-that-ants-use-to-build-bridges-2018...

dhw: It is your fixed belief that your God either popped in to teach ants how to build rafts and bridges, or he supplied the first living cells with a 3.8-billion-year old programme for ant rafts and ant bridges to be passed on along with his programme for ant-making and for every other life form and natural wonder (though the programmes mysteriously bypassed bacteria, which only inherited programmes for bacteria). I propose that when ants first built rafts and bridges, they used their combined intelligences to do so. Once they had succeeded, this knowledge was passed on.

We've covered this many times. God is in control with pre-programming/ and or dabbling. Each stage of evolution has a set of rules to follow. They carry instructions for future steps but aren't privy to it.