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You can think of insect hives (bees, ants, etc) as a single organism that happens to not be physically contiguous. The individual insects in a hive are typical

You can think of insect hives (bees, ants, etc) as a single organism that happens to not be physically contiguous. The individual insects in a hive are typically 75% identical genetically.

hahajk 5y ago
And some might say “but the hive itself doesn’t have consciousness, or an ‘experience’”. Which is impossible for you to know, unless you are (or have been) a hive.
- BurningFrog 5y ago
  If you attack the hive, it definitely defends itself. It looks for food, etc... It is popular to admire the selfless ants or bees who willingly give their lives for their society. But if you think of them as cells of an organism, that happens in every living being. When you see a hive sacrificing itself, we can talk :)
  - mongol 5y ago
    This is an example of the greyness that the article discusses. If hives are to be seen as distinct life, it will be quite close to the end of a spectrum.
    - andi999 5y ago
      The end of the spectrum is probably more at thinking of human cities as distinct life forms.
tagami 5y ago
How similar are city and hive?