Could Ants Offer a Blueprint For Humanity’s Future?

Photo Courtesy of Mark Moffett

While most of us would freak out to find ants marching through our home, most of us think we understand how complex their networks of hives are. But we may understand less than we know, and the new facts that we’re discovering could help humans recognize better ways to build and maintain society.

There’s arguably no better habitat on Earth for researching ants than Belize. The Central American paradise may be most popularly known as a haven for ecotourism, but it’s also home to hundreds of different species of ant. But what’s most fascinating about these different species is how specialized they all are — and how they can share very unique niches within their ecosystem.

That’s a bold change of pace from the standard assumption — that there are merely worker ants, soldier ants, and queens. Biologist Mark Moffett has had a passion for arts since he was a child, and that lends him a unique perspective on the world around them. He sees these varied and generally co-habituating species as all members of a larger form of proto-society. Leafcutter ants are essentially farmers who bring home leaves that can be mulched and transformed into fungus. Smaller ants will often ride on these leaves to conserve their own energy and cover more ground in a shorter amount of time. Dozens of Belize’s ant species occupy rain forest canopies, and all of their behaviors change the environment around them and allow for uniquely beneficial relationships.

Photo Courtesy of Mark Moffett

The most important point, Moffett emphasizes, is that this sophisticated and largely autonomous form of quasi-society requires little in the way of brainpower. Ants aren’t especially smart creatures, but their single-mindedness allows for some incredibly sophisticated systems when different specialized ants are working in harmony with one another.

Moffett has a bold assertion that he’s drawn from his research — that the smartest way to solve some problems may be to make them less complicated. The method ants have for fulfilling their tasks is haphazard — one ant follows another which follows another, and they eventually settle into the route that offers the most efficient path. To test his hypothesis, Moffett tested out a more chaotic — and ant-like — alternative to traditional airline boarding practices. He discovered that when there is no assigned seating, less people are going to move seats on average.

That means if you decide to board a flight to see the unique varieties of ants (or beaches, or jungles, or ancient Maya sites) in Belize, you might want to suggest the airline offer free-for-all seating. And if yo do decide to stay, be sure to book your accommodation at the beautiful Chabil Mar in Placencia Belize.