[MD] Social Ants?

[Case]

[Gene]
> 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.

[Case]
Drawing a line in the sand for where instinct ends and learning begins is
touchy even in humans. This is one reason I think leaving social animals
out of the social level is not a good thing. One of the things
developmental psychologists have to teach us is that humans are not tabla
rasa at the get go either.

If finding distinctions beween human and other forms of society is that
important to you, I think Horse's ideas about centralized versus
distributed processing have some merit. I might also throw in something
about internal versus external locus of control among individuals in a
society. But not sure at the moment where that will lead.