[MD] Social Ants?

[Gene M]

On 6/19/06, Case <case at ispots.com> wrote:
>
> [Gene]
> > Why not use Language as the seperation between social and biological
> > networks? If there is shared vocalizations passing information from
> > individual to individual in the network, that could possibly constitute
> a
> > good test of Society and Biologic Network, in my mind.
>
> [Case]
> Several reason come to mind: first not all language, even human language,
> involves vocalization. Written and sign language for example. Or the
> digital language of machines. But that is a top down view. From the bottom
> up vocalization is used as communication within many species, prairie dogs
> and dolphins, most primates, dogs, birds even.


And I would argue that those are forms of Society. If a certain sound means
"Get Down!!" for prairie dogs, and each one recognizes it and can make it,
then I think that constitutes a rudimentary language, and a rudimentary
society. Especially if the meaning of those sounds is learned from
experience, and not innate in the individuals. I think it's a fair slice.

-Gene