Natures wonders: ants and other insects farm (Introduction)

by dhw, Sunday, May 10, 2020, 11:36 (1656 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: The study you quoted said: “Ants seem to avoid the traffic jam trap by continuously adapting their traffic rules to suit local crowding, whereas car traffic follows invariable rules such as stopping at a red light regardless of traffic.” How do you translate the ants’ avoidance of traffic jams by continuous adaptations into “either/or” non-intelligence, while human adherence to invariable rules leads to traffic jams but denotes intelligence? […]

DAVID: There are math formulas that describe traffic jams because of human thinking reactions. The ants solve the problem by a stop or go decision. We always wait for the next car to start up before we go creating delays. Study army marching; no gaps. Same with ants.

I’m sorry, but no matter what maths formulas you choose to quote, it seems to me that any organism which avoids problems by continuously changing its behaviour according to local conditions is showing signs of autonomous intelligence.

dhw: I am always amazed when so-called experts seem surprised at the idea that non-sapiens knew what they were doing. And by extension, I am amazed at so many people’s assumption that other life forms DON'T know what they’re doing. Survival depends on all of them knowing that for a specific task they must find out what works best. Sceptics simply ignore the fact that EVERY survival strategy must have had an origin, and once it worked, it became instinctive and only required change if something went wrong. Neanderthals didn’t have to reinvent their tools once they had found out what worked best. Ants don’t have to reinvent their farming techniques once they have found those that work. But intelligence is required to invent them and to adapt them if conditions change.

DAVID: The Neanderthals may have used trial and error to find the right bones. That takes analysis. As for ants, isn't it possible God helped?

Anything is possible, but I find it far more likely that ants worked out their own traffic and farming strategies (using their perhaps God-given intelligence) than that your God preprogrammed their behaviour 3.8 billion years ago, or gave them courses in traffic control and farming techniques.