I touched on the umwelt concept during some research I was doing for my Masters but didn't give much thought back then to how it would apply to colony organisms like ants. I still see organisms like that as having an individual umwelt however, as there is still sensory information they share among themselves regarding the location of resources etc. To my mind, the concept of a shared umwelt would imply each individual is at all times aware of all aspects of the colony which, of course, isn't the case. It's an interesting concept to play with though. There are so many questions in cognitive fields which are exceptionally difficult to realistically answer though. One thing I've always been fascinated by is episodic-like memory which is also exceptionally difficult to prove in animals - I.e. Separating out general associations with a particular object say from recall of a specific event involving that object. I wonder whether we'll ever find a way to address these types of questions?
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It's entirely possible we'll find a way to tap into animal brains and read their thoughts someday (terrifying implications for human society going along with that), so perhaps we'll know the answers- but my gut instinct is that we're a long, long way from answering those questions. I think we're still very much in the early days of science in some regards.
Definitely still early days - interestingly one of my animal behaviour profs back in the day reckoned that once we can read animal thoughts we may not find what they have to 'say' all that interesting. As someone who studies behaviour for a living, seeing them do the same exact things day after day, I think she may have a point. But I reckon we're in for some surprises with the likes of dolphins and Cephalopods though :)
Man gains ability to read Dog's thoughts. All Dog things is "arf."
Lol, well from what I've seen of bat eared foxes I'd be expecting something like: Termites? Termites! .....ooh, more termites! More or less on an infinite loop... 😂
Wouldn't surprise me!