An ant scouting for food...

Originally posted by jiggerj
An ant scouting for food comes up to a blade of grass that it must go around. Which way does the ant go, left, right, or over?

The real question is, whichever direction the ant goes, isn't it a conscious choice?

Originally posted by UNIT76

hmm.. we're told ants rely on pheromones for communication,
humans also, it's said..
..interesting, thanks for posting

Originally posted by UNIT76


groupthink > chemicals
individuality > consciousness
(?)

..well, i got this piece of dung beetle i gotta get back to the larvae, seeya back at the nest.

takes a while for some things to process..

the hive mind is not fully understood here and so FEAR yes is understood.. as posted

groupthink > chemicals

EX to consider-

mates humans mates visual groupthink response to the mathematical programmed to be as beauty to some and so group think approach is to attract to beauty or approach, approach but then the pheromones/estrogen/testosterone CHEMICAL mix Dominates from that point on...

In human groups alpha behavior female or male - First the body has to produce chems to lead. How? its genetically traited and so passed down or its induced it the alphas chemicals thru exercise or natural exposure to elements that increase adrenaline usage to fight fatigue etc... and so body forms and chems. form with it and so LEADERS are formed CHEMICALLY. This way even if body of alpha is or is not detected the Chemical output effects on their body an or even minds allow them to Lead or to be seen as not leaders.

Human chemical = or > groupthink, group think fail at times at point of math observation and then content with math observation as opposed to math first then chemical & or neuro. makeup strength attributes observations of alphas female & male...

individuality > consciousness

we are ALL and so there is no 1, segregation is instructed based on what if 1 or just some even based on ? agenda ...

which CREATOR Creation Group has the best agenda ? ALL = or > individuality therefore work as whole not saying be mindless is the way to clarify as well... not at all. Be unique but recognize Unique manifestations ALL Came from the same SOURCE...

LOVE LIGHT ETERNIA
NAMASTE*******

reply to post by PurpleVortex


Compelling evidence that we were indeed made in god's image (or god made in man's image).

As for consciousness in ants, why not? It is not exclusive to humans by any means.

Originally posted by PurpleVortex
When I was a kid I would watch ants through a magnifying glass for hours and hours, and their every conscious choice was mesmerizing to me...tiny yet so clever...until I fried them with the magnifying glass of course...

you are so sadistic.

when you are cruel to animals it means you will cruel to people too.

i dread to think what other unpleasant things you have do to people.

what goes around...

reply to post by jiggerj


Behaviour very close to ants can be modelled with each ant having a very simple artificial neural network. The more complex emergent behaviour comes from chemical signalling between ants modulating their behaviour.

I wouldn't say an individual ant or even the combined colony has any form of consciousness but a cat or a dog is a different story and I am sure many owners would agree.

Originally posted by jiggerj
An ant scouting for food comes up to a blade of grass that it must go around. Which way does the ant go, left, right, or over?

The real question is, whichever direction the ant goes, isn't it a conscious choice?

it's an interesting question. I'm working on a similar problem with a robot. It's only goal is to move around and avoid obstacles. It's a rock crawler so it can go over things too. Which direction it goes is determined by what info its sensors provide. It doesn't "choose", it just simply goes where there is more room to move and avoids the area that has less room.

When we walk around or even drive in our cars, there is very little conscious decision making. So if you are about to hit another car, do you go left, right or straight through? Do you go through list of possible outcomes? "If I go left, that's better because...if I go right then..." I think you move in the direction that your arms steer the wheel in based on the information it gathers from your eyes. You simply "sense" where to go and go.

Maybe the answer is based on what senses the ant has. Is it really "scouting" with purpose as if on a mission for his colony or is it simply moving around and when it does find food does just simply trigger some chemical to be released?

reply to post by ZetaRediculian

It doesn't "choose", it just simply goes where there is more room to move and avoids the area that has less room.

Then doesn't your rock robot have to decide which side has more room to move through? (Congrats on building it. Wish I had the brains for that. :up

Originally posted by jiggerj
reply to post by ZetaRediculian

 

It doesn't "choose", it just simply goes where there is more room to move and avoids the area that has less room.

Then doesn't your rock robot have to decide which side has more room to move through? (Congrats on building it. Wish I had the brains for that. :up

I wouldn't call it a decision. So I have 2 distance sensors. The left one detects an object at 15 feet, the right one detects an object at 10 feet. Left minus right is 5. So it turns "5" to the left. Since 15-10 always equals 5, it does the same thing every time. Now if it went right sometimes despite the sensor values, It might make me think that. In fact, it would do the same exact pattern around the room every time. It's very predictable. As I add more complexity to the programming, it may do something unexpected but debugging the program will reveal the cause.

An ant is much more complex. The question is would it always move the same way or does it sometime just go where the fermented fruit is and just take the day off?

Not off topic at all. Are you sure it was a death scent and not an intelligent thought? I'm looking for examples of what might appear as intelligence in the lower life forms.

I know that when bees find a food source they communicate the location of the food to the rest of the hive. Not just where the food is, but how high it is from the ground. This tells me that bees have a memory where the location of the food source is stored. They REMEMBER where the food is. Wouldn't this constitute holding onto a complex thought? I dunno.
-----------------------

Just to say when given coc aine (them pushers always looking for new markets lol) bees tend to exaggerate the amount of pollen/nectar at a given point and do their dance of communication for longer and more energetically.

If you want to check just do search on coc aine and bees communication/dance.

Originally posted by jiggerj
reply to post by ZetaRediculian

 

It doesn't "choose", it just simply goes where there is more room to move and avoids the area that has less room.

Then doesn't your rock robot have to decide which side has more room to move through? (Congrats on building it. Wish I had the brains for that. :up

Check out this thread: These ants are consciously making the decision to piss off every one and everything around them: ats crazy ants

CJ

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13


thanks for expanding on that

takes a while for some things to process..

..right back at ya