Valuable Lessons We Can Learn From Ants

Insects have been around pretty much forever and can teach us a lot about ecology and biology. Ants have been studied extensively; more is known about them than most other insects. They teach us a lot about production and cooperation.

Production

You can find dozens of ant species in the Belizean rainforest. Biologist and ant-enthusiast Mark Moffett emphasizes that the world under our feet is controlled by ants. Therefore, these ants build their roads and work together to collect food. Furthermore, they live in societies of millions which means that lots of work have to be put in to feed the population.

Moreover, they are some of the best farmers in the business. With the help of their jaws that contain a lot of zinc, they can manage to tear through a leaf. Therefore, these leaves are piled up and turned into a mulch where the fungus is raised to be eaten by the ants.

Cooperation

Ants understand the power of working together to achieve great things. Professor of biology at Stanford Barbara Gordon points out that an ant colony accomplishes impressive feats. However, this ant colony does not have a leader or bureaucrats who dish out orders. Ants effortlessly organize themselves as groups.

This behavior of ants was adopted by scientists in an endeavor to solve the most frustrating seat problem in air travel. Computer-simulated versions of these insects were used to figure out how to best board a plane. As a result, open seating was more efficient than the seat number system in terms of asking people to stand up if you want to take up your seat.

In retrospect, ants might not be intelligent creatures, but their dedication to hard work without supervision is a valuable lesson they teach us.