Why call a class "Social Ants." Well the truth is I asked around and some friends came up with some ideas. For the most part they were just jokes but one recommended the idea of "Social Ants" most likely because of the combination of Sociology (social) and Anthropology (ants). The name struck me though because I was already considering a name having to do with "ants" because they are one of the most amazing creatures in the world (in my opinion). All summer I was thinking about and observing how humans sometimes act like ants without even knowing it. Have you ever noticed how when people are driving their cars they tend to give about the same distance between. Lines of cars then look like ants on the march. In my life I have been able to witness stacks of dirt made by ants that were taller than humans (7-10 feet tall) and the sheer amount of ants that would take amazed me. I also got to see army ants on the move, they build walls around the main highway with their bodies and if anything comes near they can stack themselves on top of each other to attack it.
Truly ants are pretty impressive, but why are humans and ants similar?
Well I guess despite the differences in the ways humans and ants relate to eachother, one of the things I am impressed by is the structures ants and humans create over and over again.
Watch this video to find out what I mean.
EMBED-Giant Ant Colony is a World Wonder - Watch more free videos
Did you see the highways? The rooms and storage areas? This massive city was built by ants and similarly humans have built massive cities all over the earth. Not only that but humans have these same patterns when it comes to social interaction. We create markets and school and places to worship. We break off into social units, clubs and teams, families and clans. We assign roles like worker and boss, student and teacher, or go further and say that if you are of a certain category you must act or dress or talk in a certain way.
When I think about these things, the idea of "Social Ants" seems really fitting.
What do you think?
