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I've always viewed the entire colony as the "thinker". It is true that the queen is not the "brain" but then neither is the individual worker bee. Considered a
by eternalban 7y ago
I've always viewed the entire colony as the "thinker".
It is true that the queen is not the "brain" but then neither is the individual worker bee. Considered as a cellular automata, the queen 'cell' is a super-cell. The queen regulates flow of pheromones, and communication is communication, whether it uses electric signals or gradient diffusion of chemicals. That 'cell' is sitting on top of a hierarchy, and whether she is just a glorified "gland" as you would have it or not, little worker bees will NOT disregard her input.
- carapace 7y agoFWIW it's not like we disregard the, uh, input of our gonads, eh? Anyway, I basically agree with you, except that I doubt the queen is doing much more, uh, thinking than any particular worker. I don't think she's more of a person (independent mind) than a worker.
- eternalban 7y agoIt's very simple: there is a hierarchy in a hive. And yes, on occasion I surprise myself, to say nothing of my demanding gonad, and veto hormonal urges. The topic at hand, my original remark above, is that self-organization does not speak to the necessity of leaders, and hierarchical organizational order.