Natures wonders: insect migration (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, November 30, 2021, 14:53 (878 days ago) @ dhw

dhw: So you think children learning to handle language are automatons. No? Then aside from scale and time span, please explain the difference between: 1) children perceiving facts, learning the sounds that are associated with those facts, using those sounds to communicate with others, and eventually taking decisions, and 2) bees perceiving facts, learning the movements that are associated with those facts, using the movements to communicate with others and eventually taking decisions.

DAVID: Wait: how do bees know where to fly for nectar from a hive they have never left? The goal has direction and distance and when arriving there it must be recognized as the endpoint, unless direction and distance are precisely coded in advance. That is the author's point.

dhw: Why must I wait for you to respond to the point that I have raised above? Please explain the difference between the two processes of learning.
Where does the article say the new adults don’t leave the hive? It just says they learn the dance within a week. Of course the goal has direction and distance and an endpoint – that is the whole purpose of the dance! And of course the movements are precisely “coded” – all the younger bees have gone through the process of learning from the older bees which movements denote which directions and distances will lead to which endpoints! Just as we humans learn which sounds denote which objects and which actions lead to which endpoints.

You have come up with a theory not in the article: as the larvae develop into full adults BEFORE leaving the hive, they recognize the information in the dance from an automatic algorithm which fully develops automatically in their brain. Not learned from adults in a classroom.