Consciousness in Nature
Ant Cook
Diana Wheeler of the University of Arizona in Tucson, filmed many hours of an ant colony. She and other biologists who studied the film of food preparation by the ants were surprised that the ants preparing the food were young ants who would spend as much as five hours preparing the food for the colonies and not sneaking any bits for their selves. The young ants then patiently waited for the food to be distributed to everyone so they could get their share.The ants “truly are performing a colony-level task, not a selfish one of eating,” said Joan Herbers of Ohio State University in Columbus. Where would such unselfish behavior come from in a machine?