2006-09-09 06:52:38 · 18 answers · asked by ax 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Botany
It is true that ants have have complex social organization, including hierarchies and division of labor. However, this "sophisticated" aspect of ant life is not due to careful planning and pondering on the part of ants; it's instinctual. Relative to other insects, ants do have large brains and are quite intelligent. However, ants do not "think" in the same way that humans and some other animals do; they don't have the right type of "circuitry," biologically speaking.
2006-09-09 07:06:34 · answer #1 · answered by forbidden_planet 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes they can think. . one species can even count. one species even showed the capacity of learning and another ,the most incredible of all, one species(forgot which) has shown the ability of reasoning and memory. saw it on the Discovery Chanel. they placed object of different shapes and size around an ant nest. out comes an ant stops for a moment then starts looking for food. it was just walking around zigzagging everywhere till it found food. then it turns around looks and heads for the nest in a relatively straight line.
they did this following several ants around and all went straight home when they found food. so what they did next is wait for another ant follow it around till it found food. as soon as the ant took the food, they removed all the objects between the ant and the nest. the ant just walked and walked around in circles like it was lost. the conclusion was that the ant was making a 'mental' note of land marks that it passed by as well as the landmarks position relative to the nest. of course they repeated this with the same result
2006-09-09 10:55:14 · answer #2 · answered by Archer 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think so, yes. Ants exhibit behaviors that go above and beyond instinct. For example, they can teach each other where resources are located. As far as I've found, ants don't actually have brains, but they do have a nervous system. So any thoughts are extremely rudimentary, and exclusively task-oriented.
2006-09-09 06:59:34 · answer #3 · answered by DavidK93 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Those horrid beings you call 'ants' are known as one of the worlds best organized creatures.
Now let me ask you this, can you think?
Yours Faithfully, D.
2006-09-09 06:55:21 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah ants r very intelligent and highly sociable insects
2006-09-09 06:55:07 · answer #5 · answered by Hazel t 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They must can because they have grown in numbers in the last 30 years (on my farm they have anyway).
2006-09-10 19:32:27 · answer #6 · answered by troylfry 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Insects dint think,they react to stimuli.& they act instictively. Do cats & dogs & horses think? I Think so,because they learn where things are.
2006-09-09 07:13:47 · answer #7 · answered by chris s 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
depends on what you mean by think...they are able to go out and search for food by scent and able to go to war with each other but they couldnt solve a basic math theorem
2006-09-09 06:54:59 · answer #8 · answered by Mark D 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes
2006-09-09 06:54:14 · answer #9 · answered by Tony 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If he can,t think,he knows a lot.
SO YES.
2006-09-09 07:26:15 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋