This is how I think about the ant like paths: Since we're warping the angles lines that turn a little will turn more, and lines that turn almost nothing will co

This is how I think about the ant like paths: Since we're warping the angles lines that turn a little will turn more, and lines that turn almost nothing will continue turning very little. Lines will start to converge against points that turn very little, after which all lines are grouped up and all go through the same points. I.e. turn until the turn-vector is small. That only happens when the smoothing is low, since the difference in noise values will still be high enough to cause this effect. I don't know it that mess of a paragraph was understandable, but hopefully it answers your question!