| |
|
Story : Niramon Moonchinda / Photos : Bunkit Suthiyananon
|
|
 |
 |
The span and resilience of human civilization on planet earth is not so impressive when we imagine that our time here will actually be a mere instance in the lifespan of the earth. But if we take a look at ants in comparison, a few interesting revelations will present themselves...
|
|
 |
|
The ant population greatly outnumbers the human population - ants have more "cities" than humans do; ants exist and thrive practically everywhere, from the driest areas to the extremely cold and extremely hot areas to areas where no human can survive; and, wherever we have ventured out, we have always come across ants. Ant history precedes our own by hundreds of millions of years. If a natural or nuclear disaster wiped out human civilization some hundred million years ahead, ants would still have hope to survive on...(taken from The Ant Army, a Science Fiction Novel by Bernard Weber)
|
|
 |
|
What makes ants so resilient? Is it their physical structure? Is it because they have toenails for climbing up and down walls and ceilings, a 180-degree radius of sight, antennas that receive all sorts of information not visible to the human eye, a stomach that pockets a variety of useful chemicals, muscles used to cut, pinch and grab, and the "pipes" that interpret the multitude of smells it comes into contact with? No, the application of a human index finger ends their life.
|
|
 |
|
Perhaps their resilience is owed to their complex and intriguing social organization. In this matriarchal society, the queen ant directs and controls the movements of the entire group - a group in which every single ant has clear-cut responsibilities which are carried out to the best of their abilities. The outcome is an efficient and effective organization for the procreation and persistence of ant society. Every individual ant, in maintaining its highest personal priority - existence - works to its full capacity to support the whole community. Alone and disconnected, they die, but in pooling their abilities and resources together, they survive. If applicable to human social theory, maybe we can take a cue?
|
|
