Post AjrnR31k0Ou4exLmsa by glitzersachen@hachyderm.io
(DIR) More posts by glitzersachen@hachyderm.io
(DIR) Post #AjqvcnJoq7tztIxUMC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-12T11:17:54Z
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Four ants can make a nest for 30. A similar number of foragers can feed as many ants. And again, about four ants would be able to care for a very large pile of brood. Ants nearly always have more ants than they seem to "need" -- they really do gain an advantage by splitting up the labor. I wonder if ants get better at jobs like digging or foraging as they do the same job over and over? How could one measure ant job performance?
(DIR) Post #AjqwLQIPHhsLWCZvoO by CdnCurmudgeon@mastodon.social
2024-07-12T11:25:48Z
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@futurebird I recently started playing a sim called Per Aspera, about terraforming Mars. It uses small bots to do all the work. It reminded me a lot of the classic game SimAnt, but much more advanced. Basically, the bots build the nest, collect resources, and maintain the colony like in an ant colony. Rather entertaining.
(DIR) Post #Ajqwm13tDF4P4hT7ce by bewo001@darmstadt.social
2024-07-12T11:30:46Z
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@futurebird going into ant hill consultancy? "As part of restructuring, we'll let 25 of your 30 ant department go. Our new locust owners require us to streamline production and improve efficiency. "
(DIR) Post #AjqxmwL8LzlmfqXTay by fritzoids@mas.to
2024-07-12T11:42:03Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@futurebird I wouldn't be surprised if ants split up tasks the way that bees do. Bees perform different tasks depending on their age. The oldest bees fly out in search of pollen and nectar.https://pollenpaths.com/what-do-worker-bees-do/
(DIR) Post #Ajqy74e5BQT0E10EOe by tshirtman@mas.to
2024-07-12T11:45:14Z
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@bewo001 @futurebird i actually think doing management consultancy explaining how having more ants than necessary, many of them "idle" at any time is good for the colony, might be good. hard sell, maybe, but it could make the world a little more sane.
(DIR) Post #AjqyKZSJwVOBXuw9lg by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-12T11:48:14Z
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@tshirtman @bewo001 A "just in time" colony with "just enough" ants cannot survive any challenge. An ant is sick? Colony fails.An ant gets snatched by a bird? Colony fails.It rains? Colony fails.Liquidating all the margins for profit was a mistake.
(DIR) Post #AjqyUkwy3tpi5h82ds by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-12T11:50:04Z
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@tshirtman @bewo001 I was thinking about this with respect to take-out. These take-out apps have removed the "inefficiency" of every restaurant having their own delivery workers. Every delivery person is scrambling all the time (and making less) but the service is terrible. When a delivery guy works for a particular restaurant they get better at their job. Fewer mistakes, they can do it faster too. Instead the orders are all wrong. The restaurants have less profit, the workers have less pay.
(DIR) Post #Ajqyld0gpsKEO8umfI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-12T11:53:04Z
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@tshirtman @bewo001 The only upsides are that you can order in an app which is less stressful than talking to a person on the phone. But even I, the one who hates phone calls most now always try just calling the place first hoping they won't make me use the app. Then on top of all the fees and crap I feel like I need to give a huge cash tip, because I've done that job and it's BS. Take-out has always been my little vice and ... it's not fun anymore. I guess cooking isn't that bad.
(DIR) Post #AjqyweD2iX27IEwnFA by dan613@ottawa.place
2024-07-12T11:55:05Z
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@futurebird @tshirtman @bewo001 In my experience, it takes 5 ants to do a 3 ant job.
(DIR) Post #Ajqz2ZlS9lchFErxKa by ptmesis@writing.exchange
2024-07-12T11:56:10Z
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@futurebird @tshirtman @bewo001 What really depresses me no end is that in human settings the stripped down colonies first drive the well-margined one out of business with their supposed great efficiency. Then, when a calamity hits, the well-margined colony is no longer around to show that their strategy was actually the better option.
(DIR) Post #AjqzUnQMxkZricSpQe by phryk@mastodon.social
2024-07-12T12:00:23Z
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@tshirtman @bewo001 @futurebird I have a fashy step- or halfbrother or whatever (don't really keep contact with my family) and he once did the old "human society would be so much better if we were organized like ants" thing.He got completely stumped when I pointed out that up to 25% of a colony don't "work". Like, he got so confused he went into an existential crisis.
(DIR) Post #Ajr0W7w0I8dtZdSWno by phryk@mastodon.social
2024-07-12T12:06:37Z
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@tshirtman @bewo001 @futurebird Extra fun fact: The context of the conversation was unemployment. He tried arguing that people should be forced to work. He was unemployed at the time.
(DIR) Post #Ajr0W93897wB21njY8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-12T12:12:43Z
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@phryk @tshirtman @bewo001 It can feel really bad not to have a job. He might not understand that some people without formal paid jobs have lots and lots of work that they need to do. Or more than enough work for their energy level and health. He's projecting his sense of uselessness and feelings of lacking respect on to others I bet.
(DIR) Post #Ajr18a3uA9UfoVUV6G by phryk@mastodon.social
2024-07-12T12:19:40Z
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@futurebird @tshirtman @bewo001 Yeah, seems about right. I mean, I was unemployed at that time, too – but unlike him, I was always working on a bunch of projects and argued that work should be abolished or at least minimized while a basic income is rolled out as interim solution. 🤷
(DIR) Post #Ajr4Uy7VhBDQf6XoSu by cshlan@dawdling.net
2024-07-12T12:57:19Z
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@futurebirdAround here very few restaurants offered take out before the apps. I've delivered take out and while I admit I never delivered for just one restaurant, there's a lot of overlap between the way they all work and you do get better at it as you go. If deliverers were hired and assured pay I feel like it would work better. There'd be more accountability and less turnover. But most of the mix ups (ime, anyway) happen on the store end. @tshirtman @bewo001
(DIR) Post #AjrnR31k0Ou4exLmsa by glitzersachen@hachyderm.io
2024-07-12T19:15:12Z
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@futurebird "How could one measure ant job performance?" You would need to agree KPIs with them. Later you ask them and their peer ants which of the KPIs have been reached and you rate the ant accordingly.I, it's basic management, right?
(DIR) Post #AjrtwodXdwJL1KYwka by apophis@brain.worm.pink
2024-07-12T22:30:12.330711Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@tshirtman @bewo001 @futurebird i'm trying to imagine this from the perspective of the ants' priorities and the more i think about their behaviour the more i'm convinced that "too many ants (of one's own colony)" is an impossible concept to consider because having more ants is the point(imagine that... treating the living beings in question as ends in themselves...)
(DIR) Post #AjsBE0uuwAFLFbTbPM by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
2024-07-13T01:47:22Z
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@futurebird @tshirtman @bewo001 and then these days it can often be a challenge even to find an actual restaurant page, even for pick up.And then there is also this: https://www.readmargins.com/p/doordash-and-pizza-arbitrage