5 ms·

If you didn't know what ants were already they probably would be interesting

koheripbal 6y ago
Sure, but if you were a billion years old and had seen ants before, it's unlikely that you'd take interest in any specific ant hill you walk by.
- marcosdumay 6y ago
  Unless you are one of those people with the habit of studying ants, and cataloging the multiple ways that they can be different. Or if you are one of those people that want to grow a crop on that plot of land, so the ants are a problem.
- godelski 6y ago
  Idk, there are still people that study ants. Both professionally and as a hobby. Just because you don't care doesn't mean someone doesn't. I don't know why the same wouldn't be true for aliens. Unless those aliens are ant like (hive mind...ish)
  - purplecats 6y ago
    and those ants don't know they are being studied/farmed
    - godelski 6y ago
      I'm not sure I like this line of reasoning because it implies that the ants aren't aware of us. Certainly they are in some cases. Ants are able to physically perceive us. So if aliens aren't using some means of passive remote sensing to study us then I don't see why we wouldn't also notice them (though they may have good reason to not use active means). Sure, the ants aren't aware of what why we're hanging out around them, but they are aware of us.
      - sliken 6y ago
        https://xkcd.com/638/ https://xkcd.com/638/
      - purplecats 6y ago
        i think you may be confusing the ideas "aware of" and "being studied".
        godelski 6y ago
        The topic was really about how we may not know we're being studied by unknown aliens, just like ants. My response was about the ants not knowing the why but still aware of existence. So far we don't know about the existence of aliens, hence the part about how they'd have to be doing passive and remote studying.
  - baja_blast 6y ago
    Not to mention there are endless number of nature documentaries on Ants. If ants were not interesting then the National Geographic channel wouldn't have ant documentaries as often as they do.
  - adjkant 6y ago
    What percentage of ants that exist are studied? They absolutely study some, but the vast majority of ants won't ever be acknowledged by a human. That seems like a relevant factor here if the assumption is that humans are like ants in both interest level and commonality in the universe.
- DoreenMichele 6y ago
  When you live to be a billion, you probably study ants just to have something better to do than bitch about joint pain. And having seen many, many, many ant hills, specific ones with slight odd variations unnoticed by people who are merely a million years old would stand out like a flashing neon sign and you would be all "Hello! What, pray tell, is this?!" while everyone looked at you funny because they lack context. Just sayin'...

Sure, but if you were a billion years old and had seen ants before, it's unlikely that you'd take interest in any specific ant hill you walk by.

marcosdumay 6y ago
Unless you are one of those people with the habit of studying ants, and cataloging the multiple ways that they can be different. Or if you are one of those people that want to grow a crop on that plot of land, so the ants are a problem.
godelski 6y ago
Idk, there are still people that study ants. Both professionally and as a hobby. Just because you don't care doesn't mean someone doesn't. I don't know why the same wouldn't be true for aliens. Unless those aliens are ant like (hive mind...ish)
- purplecats 6y ago
  and those ants don't know they are being studied/farmed
  - godelski 6y ago
    I'm not sure I like this line of reasoning because it implies that the ants aren't aware of us. Certainly they are in some cases. Ants are able to physically perceive us. So if aliens aren't using some means of passive remote sensing to study us then I don't see why we wouldn't also notice them (though they may have good reason to not use active means). Sure, the ants aren't aware of what why we're hanging out around them, but they are aware of us.
    - sliken 6y ago
      https://xkcd.com/638/ https://xkcd.com/638/
    - purplecats 6y ago
      i think you may be confusing the ideas "aware of" and "being studied".
      - godelski 6y ago
        The topic was really about how we may not know we're being studied by unknown aliens, just like ants. My response was about the ants not knowing the why but still aware of existence. So far we don't know about the existence of aliens, hence the part about how they'd have to be doing passive and remote studying.
- baja_blast 6y ago
  Not to mention there are endless number of nature documentaries on Ants. If ants were not interesting then the National Geographic channel wouldn't have ant documentaries as often as they do.
- adjkant 6y ago
  What percentage of ants that exist are studied? They absolutely study some, but the vast majority of ants won't ever be acknowledged by a human. That seems like a relevant factor here if the assumption is that humans are like ants in both interest level and commonality in the universe.
DoreenMichele 6y ago
When you live to be a billion, you probably study ants just to have something better to do than bitch about joint pain. And having seen many, many, many ant hills, specific ones with slight odd variations unnoticed by people who are merely a million years old would stand out like a flashing neon sign and you would be all "Hello! What, pray tell, is this?!" while everyone looked at you funny because they lack context. Just sayin'...