While working in the garden today, I came across something I had seen, but never watched before. We had a pile of garden rubbish and I loaded it into a friend's trailer to take to the tip, and then I laid down a fine gravel base to build the "bin house" upon. They are currently sitting on square concrete pavers, and when I moved them, I came across an ant nest jut below the surface with hundreds, or thousands of eggs, and winged ants taking care of them.
They were startled.
But not for long.
After the initial shock at the sudden burst of sunlight, it took them all of about five seconds to stop panicking and jump into action. And while I wasn't at the planning meeting, or at any of the practice drills, they knew exactly what to do. The winged ants pooled into a couple of groups and then just pretty much stopped to the point I thought they were dying, but they were waiting. The worker ants then systematically took egg after egg into several particular holes with incredible efficiency.


Within maybe three minutes, every single egg had been safely tucked away into the depths of the nest somewhere. And then it was the turn of the winged ants, that as the last of the eggs were being taken away, they started searching for their escape. However, they couldn't get down all of the different holes, only the larger ones, so the worker ants directed, pulled and almost carried them into the right direction, and when they had disappeared down the larger hole, the worker went back for the next.
In less than seven minutes, it was a ghost town.
It was pretty amazing to see that level of coordination and order and just got me thinking about how our own species, with so much intelligence, is also so primitive in ability to work together. Just imagine the mess that would happen if humans were in charge of that operation and how long it would take to get a similar result, and how many arguments and fights would happen along the way.
It would be chaos.
We create so much complication in our lives that doing something this efficiently is almost impossible, and most of the reason comes down to how we feel about it. No matter what these ants felt at the time, they just did what was necessary to do, what they were programmed or taught to do. They had no idea what was going on, just that they had to act together.
I like mechanical efficiencies.
Finding and planning the "easier" way to do physical things is fun, whether it is stacking the dishwasher, filling the cupboards, or moving a metric tonne of gravel from one spot to another. Working out ways to reduce the time or the energy requirements makes the job more like a game. It gives me a chance to develop my problem solving skills, whilst also focusing on what needs to be done, and makes a laborious task an interesting experience. But it isn't about making the job easier and quicker only, it is also about being able to accomplish more with the same resources.
But, watching those ants, I am an amateur.
I worked for five and a half hours continuously, on no more than a morning coffee and a bottle of water. And as I got more than I planned done, I see it as a good day. Even though I am sore.
Taraz
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Wow, that is a lot of eggs. Pretty impressive that they are able to work that well. I've been dealing with yellowjackets myself lately. Two massive nests in areas that are too close for them to be left alone. Do ants have a hive mind? I honestly don't know, but that would probably help things a bit with humans. Not that I want to go that route...
What do you have to do for them?
I haven't see one around here for ages. We used to get them occasionally though. There has been lots of dragonflies coming up from the lake though.
Hive has a Hivemind. :)
Humans do - it is called the internet. It is quickly reaching conformity.
I'm using a mixture of spray that kills them on contact and this stuff called delta dust that kills the hive from the inside out. I am going to write a post about the one hive later this week, I am still dealing with the other one.
You could get the Musk Flame thrower and give it a go :D
I'd like to keep the tree intact as much as possible! :)
Small price to pay... ;D
Ah, it's a beautiful decorative tree.
Ants are accustomed to these kinds of things and dangers, so they know exactly what to do. They're also not as emotional as humans. Humans have dozens of emotions, and sharing labor and working together creates a response.
I wonder if they have any emotions that are similar to our own. They "look" like they are in panic, but is that their experience of the situation?
I often catch myself planning how to make household tasks or projects more enjoyable, transforming them into hobbies instead of burdens.
I think it makes life better when the ordinary is interesting. Too many need something special.
That's right, Mr. Tarazkp, if something defines us human beings, it is the certainty that transformation begins in people and that, with the right direction (how are you ants) in your yard, any work team, in any field, can achieve whatever they set their mind to, with discipline and sowing ideas (eggs of ants), to see them flourish in the form of shared achievements.
Unfortunately, I think we are destined to be adversaries.
It is true, in a constantly changing work environment, for example, having emotionally intelligent teams is not an option, it is a necessity. That today, they are even much more valuable than having technical skills
My wife briefly worked for Boston Scientific. She calls them an ant colony. They are so efficient and maybe not stars but working together like that they are un-stoppable...
They probably are... given the field they work in, maybe they extracted some Ant-DNA and infused themselves with it.
LOL, that is a good way to view it :)
Ants just get the job done. I'm wondering, their discipline seems to be in their genetics and we need to be trained with work ethics firsts, how come? We need a meeting, a plan and probably still argue about it. Nature really puts us to shame sometimes. All the bragging rights 😂
Ants are amazing, but also have become a serious pest especially when there is no water as they tend to find ways into the house. We use a poison which is a nest killer as they then carry it thinking it is food back to the nest and within a week or two they are all gone. I think they are amazing in what they can do collectively and pay careful attention to the flying ants as here they are termites and we all know termites like wood.
The ants always work as a team as they move in groups together. That's really a lot of ants I hope they don't bite.
Ants: the original minimalist task-force, no meetings, no ego, just get it done. Meanwhile, humans: ‘But what’s my KPIIIIIS?!’ 😅
I've seen people work together amazingly well, but things tend to fall apart when someone tries to organize and micromanage. Compare an Amish barn-raising to corporate bureaucracy for a stark contrast.
The problem is thinking. If we just stopped doing that, and went on instinctively to preserve our race, we'd be less successful within nature. Thinking made us successful outside of nature, we beat it with our multiplication and destruction. If we just were another race of animals...
I always loved ants. Such impressive creatures. I observed the behavior your exposing many times, and I, too, stood by and watched each time.
Hola, me gustan sus fotos.
Your ants made me read some articles about their intelligence. It turns out they have a small brain but a high intelligence. It's not surprising, 130 million years of evolution made them so efficient.
People are not so well-coordinated in their work, but our civilization is moving towards the accumulation of information and the creation of efficient machines. We will soon give machines the opportunity to work most efficiently.
There is a reason they say "Go to the ants you sluggard and consider her ways". Thanks for sharing this.
The way the ants worked together so efficiently is really impressive. It might actually be difficult for humans to arrive in just a short while because we humans are emotionally being, and we tend to follow our heart instead of doing what is important. These days, there is war, and there hasn't been a clear way out of it. sometimes, nature can be more organized than we are, even though we have all the intelligence and technology. I love how you connected this to the idea of mechanical efficiencies; finding ways to do things better, faster, and with less energy. It’s a great perspective on how even mundane tasks can become interesting challenges. I also totally agree with your point about teamwork, if humans could be as coordinated as those ants, things might get done so much more smoothly.
Ah the beauty of problem solving. When someone asks me why I enjoy being a math teacher, passing along the skill of resilient problem solving is always near the top of my list. Nothing beats the feeling of deciphering the solution to an important, complex problem. My 11 to 14 year-old students need all the help and encouragement they can get when it comes to being resilient problem solvers. These days, only few truly enjoy the process of problem solving while most of the kids just want to get the answer and be done with it.
Slow down and enjoy the journey!