Essay

Ant Ant’ology

 

 

 

 

”  study the ant and become wise

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

… the ant is easy to overlook. The ants surpass humans in numbers and total biomass several times. The anthills are built from the conifers, surpassing the ants in number and volume, collected from forests and trees that surpass the conifers in even larger numbers, yet again surpassed by the sum of roots bonding with the planet, our united home which accomodate and nourish all life… the living planet, living earth and soil … within ants live, on which ants roam… easy to overlook… the ant is light…. light as the enlightened one…

The community of ants functions more efficiently and rationally than the community of humans, is more rational, reliable and stable. Between the infinite unique independent and self-sufficient communities of ants, the land is still open, freely accessible and unspoiled. Only when a community of ants chooses to move to a new location, it may by coincidence cross paths of other ant-communities. On such rare occasions, fights can occur between ants from different communities – but these kind of incidents are extremely rare and never lead to the extinction of individual ant communities.

The ants communicate better than humans, and optimize cooperation with both wholeness and specialization in mind. They are above artificial distinction between “truth/lie and “good/bad”, because they are united with, and inseparable from, an all-embracing and complex reality. 

Even ants, “the smallest animal” on this planet, surpass humans in many ways – whether humans understand themselves and the outside world, or don’t – or more precisely, live in the world of illusions with a peculiar mixture of inferiority and megalomania. As goes for human’  experience of their own consciousness and other “exceptional” characteristics, all other living beings also have special abilities and prerequisites, that only they, on individual or collective basis, manage and exercise best. If one take humans at face value, as a kind of thoughtexperiment, it spreads much laughter in the Kierkegaard’ian “house of the gods”. Even human brainexperts know almost nothing about consciousness, which must be assumed to be the most important property to associate with this organ, when at the same time this little animal act so appropriately, rationally in a very clever and successfully  way.

The ant is easy to overlook… the ant is light…. light as the enlightened one…

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More, inspired by ants, can be found here :

https://www.overetagen.dk/samtale-med-myrer/

( remove   and you got the full link )

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How to “move the pyramid” :
by majority in numbers and power – and being down to Earth

 

 

 

 

The community of ants looks like a hierarchical architecture to the human eye – but watch out ! – it works from the basement with superior strength and dynamics to the highly specialized “mother of all births”, a perfect community, beyond the artificial human distinction between “anarchy” and “hierarchy”, and all in between, where all members of the community are literally sisters and brothers from the same “mother”, the so called queen, and during thier growth taken care of by “nannies”. The queen gives birth to all members of the whole community – in opposition to monarchs among humans, which only take – not give – acting more like parasites.

The organization of the community of ants complements the opposites in a sublime and harmonic balance, both to the inside and the outside world, with unbeatable diversity, efficiency and dynamics, such as adaptation to ongoing changes in the surrounding nature.

Mother Therese was in a very high position in the hierarchical catholic world, being prior of a monastery, but choosed to step down, engaging in the basement of the human society – and in that way began a very important transformation, which lead to deep changes of the stiffened hierarchical catholic world, which at that time was in a very deep existential crisis. Her efforts saved the “church”, as many expressed it. In a way she follows the behaviour of ants:  When another newborn ant-queen is mature, it begins to look after another established anthill. When she find one she enters by meeting working ants on individual basis, confronting them, and in close contact receive some of the specific smell, by which the ants in the other anthill recognize eachother. This way the alien queen disguise herself, and is gradually accepted. By time the new queen will become more integrated, and finally replace the old expiring queen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 In the illusionary world of human ideas, the leaders most of the time doesn’ t realize this situation, and go blindly against the reality in trying to establish “law and order” – directly or indirectly through the opposite approach  “by doing bad achieving the good” ( Machiavelli / Il Divo :  “strategia de sopravvivenza” ) – to control and create borders/limits of fundamentally uncontrollable and unlimited lifeprocesses. No matter if humans try by “law and order” – or “ordo ab chao”   – it turn out to become chaos and destruction – and tragical repetitions of rebuilding the basic conditions for existence over and over again – often called “revolutions”, which actually means “repetition / back to start “. Instead humans should be aware of the difference between “revolution” and EVOLUTION, and follow the reasons behind the ants’ tremendous success.

 

I wonder if these communities of different living beings can learn from eachother (?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caricatures of how humans interprete community of ants

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 ”  Sweet  Ants  “

 

A good friend told me about a woman who was haunted by ants. The construction of the ants’ new home in hers went on for a few weeks, and gradually became a major burden. She knew about the conventional wars against ants, but did not want to start any more wars in a world that is already suffering so much.

She pondered further and came to the conclusion that she would try to communicate with the small ants – and resolve the emerging conflict through diplomatic channels – in the hope that mutual respect would prove to be possible in nature, outside the intimate human universe.

The ants represent some of the most highly developed and harmonious societies on the planet. In this context, people cannot keep up, but are of course still embraced by the idea of respect for all living things. Man is no less than other creatures – it only goes wrong when people under- or overestimate themselves in relation to other life, the outside world and the cosmos.

The woman began daily to sit close to the ants’ new home and observe them. She did nothing, and the ants did not feel threatened by her presence. They looked after themselves, as she did ~ except for the conflict that was building up between the parties.

After a while, the woman began to talk to the ants :

sweet ants, I respect you ~ but suffer when we live under the same roof. Maybe you’re suffering too. We are so different. Will you respect me and build your home somewhere else?. There are plenty of other places you can be. I can only be here, and was here first, by the way. You have several options to choose. You quickly chose to come – will you now choose another place ? “

She had decided to sit down daily and appeal in this way as long as it should last  ~  but the very next day the ants were suddenly gone.

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There is a sweet flavour to this story. In the case of the ants it make good sense, because their language and communication is based on interaction by organic scents. Maybe scents of the ants were transmitted to her, or from her to them – or both ways. A scientific explanation is not needed ~ neither excluded.

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