I don’t think communicating trades is the only issue. Even if we could communicate with ants, e.g. “Please clean this cafeteria floor and we’ll give you 5 kg of sugar” “Sure thing, human”, I think there are still barriers.
Can the ants formulate a good plan for cleaning the floor?
Can the ants tell when the floor is clean enough?
Can the ants motivate their team?
Can the ants figure out where to deposit debris, and figure this out if a human janitor accidentally leaves the bin in a different place than yesterday
There’s a lot to the task of cleaning the cafeteria floor beyond is it mechanically possible for the worker and can the worker speak English well enough to articulate a trade.
Great post.
I don’t think communicating trades is the only issue. Even if we could communicate with ants, e.g. “Please clean this cafeteria floor and we’ll give you 5 kg of sugar” “Sure thing, human”, I think there are still barriers.
Can the ants formulate a good plan for cleaning the floor?
Can the ants tell when the floor is clean enough?
Can the ants motivate their team?
Can the ants figure out where to deposit debris, and figure this out if a human janitor accidentally leaves the bin in a different place than yesterday
There’s a lot to the task of cleaning the cafeteria floor beyond is it mechanically possible for the worker and can the worker speak English well enough to articulate a trade.