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| Intelligent Ants?; What would life have been like for them? | |
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| Topic Started: Mar 29 2010, 03:56 PM (2,563 Views) | |
| Practically Uninformed | Mar 29 2010, 03:56 PM Post #1 |
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Ants have sometimes been called "the perfect society". In many ways, they behave like humans; they "domesticate" other bugs, they use problem-solving and teamwork to overcome obstacles, they wage war, they have complex systems of organization, and they have huge complexes where they all live. However, most ants (and most eusocial insects, for that matter) rely on instinct rather than intellect to solve their problems and keep their society afloat. So what if, in some small part of the world (presumably, any part of the world), ants developed a sense of knowldge, emotion, and willpower to match our own? Would their civilization be any different? Would they conquer their brothers and claim the world as their own? |
| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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| Practically Uninformed | Apr 8 2010, 01:24 PM Post #61 |
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Thorax is mostly muscle. Their heads would be very skinny, and from the side, the super-neuron would create a "crest". So it'd be the "Rat King" of the ants? Edited by Practically Uninformed, Apr 8 2010, 01:25 PM.
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| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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| Holben | Apr 8 2010, 01:57 PM Post #62 |
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Rumbo a la Victoria
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Maybe. Yeah- a crest. I should have thought of that, but sometimes someone clever needs to tell me these things.
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Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea. "It is the old wound my king. It has never healed." | |
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| SIngemeister | Apr 13 2010, 04:32 PM Post #63 |
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Hive Tyrant of the Essee Swarm
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Story potential, right there, |
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My Deviantart RRRAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!!! | |
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| Practically Uninformed | Apr 14 2010, 08:34 PM Post #64 |
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...TAKEN. Sorry, taken. No stealing tiny Lord of the Rings, please. For serious, too. I've been outlining about 10 years worth of their history. |
| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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| Holben | Apr 15 2010, 02:13 PM Post #65 |
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Rumbo a la Victoria
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Well, someone can do a Silmarantlion. |
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Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea. "It is the old wound my king. It has never healed." | |
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| Practically Uninformed | Apr 15 2010, 03:30 PM Post #66 |
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Not much room for one, though. Unless, of course, the praying mantids had an ancient civilization before the eusocials. |
| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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| ATEK Azul | Jul 2 2010, 06:23 PM Post #67 |
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Transhuman
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Can I ask why this sapient super hive can't be made of several species each with their own castes? The presence of multiple species of the hive along with the domestication processes already imployed by hive insects could make a complex hivemind that is also a sub habitat/ecosystem. |
| I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's! | |
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| Practically Uninformed | Jul 6 2010, 03:21 PM Post #68 |
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For a hive mind to work, they would have to be either ants or eusocials, and those other species might try to kill each other in the preliminary stages. Last time I checked, eusocial insects rarely integrate. |
| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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| Toad of Spades | Jul 6 2010, 03:38 PM Post #69 |
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Clorothod
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Maybe ants could form something like a civilization without being self-aware. Not individual intelligence, but sort of like a basic computer. The colony is constantly trying to find ways to improve survival rates and to expand with little effort. The colony could use new materials and find new ways of making them (metalworking and some kind of circuitry). In time, the colony could assemble high technology based totally on instinct. |
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Sorry Link, I don't give credit. Come back when you're a little...MMMMMM...Richer. Bread is an animal and humans are %90 aluminum. | |
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| ATEK Azul | Jul 6 2010, 05:53 PM Post #70 |
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Transhuman
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Well for my idea to work the different species would either start as eusocial species, demesticated species, symbiotes/parasites or mimics. |
| I am dyslexic, please ignore the typo's! | |
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| Practically Uninformed | Jul 10 2010, 02:04 PM Post #71 |
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But all of the domesticated, symbiotic, and mimicing creatures don't possess any of the brainpower the eusocials have. That'd be like us and cows uniting as a super-organism. |
| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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| dialforthedevil | Jul 10 2010, 02:20 PM Post #72 |
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Frumentarii Administrator
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well #for ant society domesticating flies would be pretty cool like they farm the maggots for food and the largest are permitted to become flies and are used as aircraft
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Please come visit A Scientfic Fantasy http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3433014/1/ ALSO!!! JOIN THE NEW RPG SITE!!! FOR ALL MEMBERS!!! IM GOING TO RUN MA GLOBAL SIMULATORS THERE!!! http://s4.zetaboards.com/jasonguppy/index/ Join the Campaign to save minotaurs from extinction!!! (include this in your signature to show your support!) | |
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| Holben | Jul 10 2010, 02:52 PM Post #73 |
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Rumbo a la Victoria
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Although riding on a fly could be problematic... |
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Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea. "It is the old wound my king. It has never healed." | |
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| dialforthedevil | Jul 10 2010, 03:04 PM Post #74 |
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Frumentarii Administrator
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i know just an idea not very plausible but oh well |
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Please come visit A Scientfic Fantasy http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3433014/1/ ALSO!!! JOIN THE NEW RPG SITE!!! FOR ALL MEMBERS!!! IM GOING TO RUN MA GLOBAL SIMULATORS THERE!!! http://s4.zetaboards.com/jasonguppy/index/ Join the Campaign to save minotaurs from extinction!!! (include this in your signature to show your support!) | |
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| Practically Uninformed | Jul 10 2010, 03:32 PM Post #75 |
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I myself have toyed with the idea of riding flies (for Fornicia, which I really should update), and the only major issue is control. Unlike horses or ostriches, flies possess one-track minds, so they would have to be heavily controlled and secured to prevent their escape. |
| You may be a king or a lil' street sweeper, but sooner or later, you'll dance with the reaper! | |
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1:53 PM Jul 11