Post ArWiWL9SHYvCEIGXjs by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #ArWaUiFicgcRfCuOX2 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-26T22:43:45Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Sometimes I like to make a big deal about the relentless (complementary) sisterhood of ant colonies. But that doesn’t mean I don’t also find male ants interesting. One just has far fewer opportunities to observe! They tend to be powerfully built around the wings, with larger eyes— but these are perched on a small head with dainty mandibles. How exactly they know when to fly and where to go is still a bit of a mystery. People will say time of year or pheromones but these are educated guesses.
(DIR) Post #ArWaeTqr1KnvtZw5uS by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-26T22:45:31Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
I wonder what if anything they make if their sturdy purposeful sisters— and what worker ants make of these creatures destined to fly and die at some hidden signal.
(DIR) Post #ArWb2KYDFfgm03aagq by gdupont@framapiaf.org
2025-02-26T22:49:42Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird funny thought: female, male and gender overall, probably have little meaning or importance for ant organisation... they would more likely relate to roles in the anthill or age strata as markers for individuals. The concept of sisterhood might be hard to grasp for them ;-)
(DIR) Post #ArWb7gaqj34BoNNNtQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-26T22:50:49Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@gdupont IDK. I think they get it.
(DIR) Post #ArWc8LRyv7N8Tu6ewa by picofarad@noauthority.social
2025-02-26T23:02:06Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird termites too, i've been around when they all decide to come out of the stumps at the same time, a little lacewing dance of tiny black insects.
(DIR) Post #ArWcw9HoQ64bEb68oa by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-26T23:11:07Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@gdupont But the real answer is ants don't have "genders" that is a human cultural concept.
(DIR) Post #ArWdmdXx9qSE8xfyk4 by whknott@mastodon.social
2025-02-26T23:20:35Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird I was putting the coat and leash on my dog last night, and as is typical, I had to move him a bit to cventer him in the doorway so I didn't bang my hands on the doorframe as I was putting on his coat. Which, he's trained to come t0o the door, stand in the same place, dip his head for the coat, he does all this, every time, how come he won't center himself in the doorway?
(DIR) Post #ArWiWJvEqvxIPubfwO by whknott@mastodon.social
2025-02-26T23:20:44Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Because, I realized, he may have an idea of self but not really of 'doorway' and certainly none of his relationship to it.
(DIR) Post #ArWiWKYEVx9CMqqoim by whknott@mastodon.social
2025-02-26T23:22:55Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Do ants even have an idea of 'self'? And if they do, do you think they have a theory of mind for other ants? Other insects? People?
(DIR) Post #ArWiWL9SHYvCEIGXjs by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-27T00:13:40Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@whknott Ants will stay out of the line of sight and away from the antennae of insects they hunt. Could that just be some kind of template, not a theory of mind. Maybe. Possibly even probably. But it could also be some kind of sketch of such a thing. I don't think we have a CLUE.
(DIR) Post #ArWiWPC5FjOulbWhOK by whknott@mastodon.social
2025-02-26T23:27:20Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Even the simplest form of life on earth, coral polyps, have enough neural complexity that we can say they are all individuals, with unique neural arrangements to solve the same problems (of motion.) It follows that the more complex the organism, the greater the potential number of neural paths (more stuff to move around.) Super interesting to consider at what point that neural pathway generation becomes complex enough for anything other than 'move that leg', let alone behaviors.
(DIR) Post #ArWiuM64Q1x46z8Mgi by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-27T00:17:59Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@whknott More to the point I think anyone who think this question is obvious, or who cites examples of more obviously reflex behaviors as evidence that everything a tiny insect with a tiny brain does as being all reaction and no complexity is pushing as much of an agenda as someone who assumes that any creature that "passes the mirror test" must be self-aware. We don't know what's going on. It might not even map to anything we know about.
(DIR) Post #ArWiz9NN8tGQ6eVsOG by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-27T00:18:53Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@whknott Or he knows you'll fix it, and enjoys that. Which is what I think motivates most of what #picaTheCat does.
(DIR) Post #ArWj8LtfxVmtXu0isS by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-27T00:20:29Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@whknott I lowkey kind of hate "the mirror test"
(DIR) Post #ArWjEPO7tLxo6w8pu4 by whknott@mastodon.social
2025-02-27T00:21:37Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird THis is definitely a possibility. When I take the lead off (it has a strap that goes around his muzzle), he stands there on the stairs and stares at me until I itch it for him. THEN he goes up.
(DIR) Post #ArWjUYa7TjKlG0S34S by whknott@mastodon.social
2025-02-27T00:24:33Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird This. I think we not just anthropomorphize, but map behaviors to generalized activity we think we understand, which may have NOTHING to do with that activity AT ALL."Facts, schmacts, you can prove anything that's even remotely true with facts." -Homer Simpson
(DIR) Post #ArWrxfsEFFcRu8JiqG by llewelly@sauropods.win
2025-02-27T01:59:27Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird I wonder what percentage need to fly at the "right time" in order to pass on their genes.