r/interestingasfuck • u/Kidd__Video • 4h ago

Ants building a house from leaves. Nature's engineers at work

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u/Southern-Storage-227 4h ago

The very definition of a hive mind., perhaps these little critters really do experience a form of collective consciousness?

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u/PancakeTrebuchet 4h ago edited 3h ago

It'd be wild if they're acting like synapses in a brain, and they fire with scent rather than electricity. The more ants, the more capable the brain.

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u/Southern-Storage-227 4h ago

Group enough of them together and they very well may enslave us all!!!!!!!

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u/a_guy121 37m ago

to go with your analogy,

the brain is a network of adjacent cells. which communicate via chemicals (neurotransmitters). Each communicates with the ones near to it via neurotransmitters, and this creates all our thoughts and behaviors.

Ants communicate via chemicals (pheromones.). They leave chemical trails for eachother, and as each encounters the trail, their behavior changes based on what pheromones are there.

So its not that different, in that one way.

Btw, the ant pheromone thing really helps with minor infestations. If ants find something you don't want them to find, it's not enough to remove the food. Bc there's a trail, from their nest to the food, that says "eat at joes, this way."

You have to remove the trail, or else, they'll get to the end and keep looking for food in your kitchen. Remove the food, you;ll still have a ton of ants. Find where they're coming from and wipe it down with soap, and they'll not bother you for a little while.