22x13 - Little Creatures Who Run the World

[bunniefuu]

tonight on nova...

humans may think
they run the world

but there's another superpower

who's really on top.

they outnumber
us a million to one

and little can
stand in their way.

their engineers breach
wide gaps in a single bound.

their workers lift
weight twice their size.

their soldiers are studied
by u.s. Defense analysts.

who is this superpower, and
what makes them so successful?

Nova gets up close and personal

Narrator: we humans like to
think that we run the world

But even in the heart
of our great cities

A rival superpower
thrives: the ants.

These tiny creatures live
all around us in vast numbers

Though we hardly
even notice them.

But in many ways, it is they
who really run the show.

When ants march together,
little can stand in their way.

Some 10,000 types are known.

They outnumber
us a million to one

And the total weight of ants

Matches that of the
entire human race.

But could these insect societies
really have the edge on us?

One man believes
that they might:

Professor edward wilson
of harvard university.

His provocative insights

On the social nature
of both ants and humans

Provide a new understanding

Of what leads to
biological success.

And it's the insect societies
that impress him the most.

Wilson: I've spent
most of my life

Working on tiny insects
like these leaf-cutter ants.

Each one is only

About a millionth the
size of a human being

And over the years
I've become convinced

That the key to their
success is quite simply

The way they work together.

To see why that's true

We can go almost anywhere
in the world on the land

Or back to almost
any point in time.

So let's go way back

To the beginnings
of this success story.

Narrator: the first insects
emerged during the age of coal

Some 300 million years ago

Long before the
dinosaurs appeared.

The ancient swamps
were their kingdom.

With no birds to compete
with, dragonflies ruled the air.

A few were giants with
three-foot wingspans

But only smaller forms survived.

Other insects were to succeed
them as the premier force.

On land, c*ck thrived.

Their line was to
persist and multiply.

Around a hundred
million years later

Dinosaurs stalked the land

And a new insect
power was emerging.

The first wasps worked
alone to dig simple nests

But for them, a social
revolution was looming.

They captured other
insects to feed their young.

These family bonds
gave their line an edge

And the wasps gave
rise to the prolific ants.

But rival forces were gathering,
hidden away in rotting wood.

Simple societies of
c*ck began to multiply.

Living in family groups was
the key to their success.

They feasted on decaying
wood but could only digest it

With an internal soup
of microscopic organisms.

Youngsters inherited
these vital organisms

By feeding directly
from their parents.

The termites, or
so-called white ants

Rose from the same
stock as the social roaches

And they would become the
only rivals of the true ants

For numbers and living space.

By 30 million years ago, the
dinosaurs were long gone.

Birds were on the scene

Alongside the
surviving reptiles.

And on land, the greatest
insect force of all time

Was well established:
the fearsome ants.

Descendants of the early
wasps, they had shed their wings

But retained the
powerful jaws and stings

To become a major
predatory force

Outnumbering the
remaining wasps by far.

Their strength came
not just from weaponry

But from working together.

Living in close-knit colonies

The ants soon became the
most abundant of all insects.

Evidence for this ancient
success story has come to light

Through a remarkable process.

Sticky sap oozing over tree
bark proved a fatal attraction

And many insects became trapped.

Over millions of years

Some of the sap became
fossilized as amber

Along with its prisoners.

The earliest and most
wasp-like of all known ants

Was suspended in sap


With every detail preserved.

Wilson: so the ants have
been around a very long time.

This is an actual specimen

Trapped in plant sap
about 30 million years ago

Turned into a beautiful fossil.

And this is an ant

That I just collected
last year in costa rica.

The two are so close together

That they might as well
be put in the same species.

So the ant way of
life is very ancient

And very successful.

As far as human
beings are concerned

Who've been around for
only one million years

Too soon to be sure.

Narrator: what is it about
the ant way of life

That has stood the
test of time so well?

All ants belong to
extended families

And carry their
prey home to share.

Unselfishness is the rule

Everything they do is
for their colony's good.

Close relationships are
the basis for their society

For all the active
workers are sisters

Spawned by a single queen

A larger ant who rules her
subjects throughout her life.

Some queens live for decades
and lay millions of eggs.

Workers rarely get to breed

And devote themselves like
robot sl*ves to the colony

Tending their youngest
sisters, the helpless white grubs.

Workers don't calculate
the pros and cons of this life;

Their behavior is programmed.

But raising lots
of close sisters

Rather than struggling
to breed alone

Ensures success both for
the colony and themselves.

Workers clean the
grubs obsessively

And fight off infections in
their underground kingdoms

With antiseptics
from special glands.

An ants' nest is
like a swiss watch:

Complexity comes from
many intricate parts

Doing separate simple jobs

All with a clean and
humming precision.

Collecting food and
tending eggs, grubs

And the cocoons
of unhatched sisters

Are all vital chores

In the colony's
efficient production line.

But the only products

That count towards
long-term continuity

Are the winged males and
future queens the colony rears

Because the founding of
new colonies depends on them.

Thousands of young
queens and males

Pour out of harvester ant
nests in arizona each year.

On just a few evenings
following the summer rains

All the colonies for
miles around erupt

At exactly the same time.

As if at a given signal,
they start to take off

Encouraged by the workers.

Tens of thousands gather

Carpeting areas the
size of football fields

With their bodies.

The males fan chemicals
into the air to attract queens

And as each one arrives

A cluster of males
scrambles to mate with her

For this is an ant orgy

And each male competes to
pass on his colony's genes.

Mated queens fly off
to start new families

While exhausted males expire
in drifts on the desert floor

But they've ensured
the continuation of a line

That goes back for
millions of years.

The ants are not only long-lived
but they occur around the world

In a tremendous
variety of habitats.

Even in the frozen forests
of the north, there are ants.

Nest mounds as high as six
feet dominate the landscape

And each one is home to a
million or more wood ants.

These ancestral piles pass
from one generation to the next

And some may date as far
back as the 19th century.

Narrator: in winter, it can drop
to minus 40 degrees outside

But the ants survive
huddled together inside.

Toward the spring

The ants produce body
heat which warms their homes

And helps to melt the
snow off the mounds.

When the thaw is complete,
the ants pour out to sunbathe

Before setting off to raid
the forest like a hungry army.

Their winter huddling gives
them a head start on other insects

And force of numbers ensures
few competitors get in their way.

The shifting sands
of the sahara desert

Where surface temperatures
reach 140 degrees fahrenheit or more

Are also home to ants.

Desert ants are the only
animals to brave the midday sun

And they hunt for
other creatures

That have died from the heat.

They are known to navigate

Through this
featureless landscape

By scanning the sky
at regular intervals

To check the sun's position.

They endure higher temperatures
than any other land animal

But even they escape the
burning surface when they can.

These ants are suicidal.

They die within a
few days in this heat

But their missions are crucial.

When they find food,
they run straight home.

Their colonies persist in one
of the harshest places on earth

Through navigational
skill and heat tolerance

But above all

Through the selfless
devotion of the workers.

But in ed wilson's view

Tropical rain forests are
the true kingdom of the ants.

More kinds of plants
and animals flourish

In these cathedrals of life
than anywhere else on earth.

But even here, social
insects, especially the ants

Rise above all the competition

And are by far the
commonest creatures

Thriving in
mind-boggling numbers.

These forests have been

A well of inspiration and
discovery to ed wilson

And year after year

He is drawn back to
untangle further mysteries.

Wilson: a lot of people think

That the forest is
teeming with big animals...

Jaguars, monkeys,
snakes and so forth.

They are there, and they
certainly are appealing...

They're exciting when
you run across them...

But you don't see
them very often.

They're very scarce.

By far the dominant creatures
are the little animals...

The insects, the spiders
and the other arthropods

That abound at every
level in the forest.

They're not easy to see if
you just stand and look around

But when you probe a little

You see that they are there in
the greatest array of diversity

That I think has ever
evolved on the planet

In the 3½ billion
years of life's history.

Narrator: much of
this teeming life

Is concentrated high in
the roof of the jungle.

Scientists who've probed
this high-rise world believe

That over five million
kinds of insects live here.

But of all these creatures,
the ants are the most prolific.

They make up half the
insects in the canopy

And a single tree may be
home to nearly 50 types.

The jungle floor, too,
is crawling with life.

In that one handful
of litter and soil

There's more order
and richness and history

Than in all the planets and
the solar system put together.

If you dig down

Into the tangle of rootlets
and bits of vegetable matter

You'll see a few ants
and a termite or two.

You'll see a whole
host of springtails

And little beetles and a
lot of other creatures.

It's a miniature wilderness

That would take lifetimes
to completely explore.

And if you magnify it still more

You'll come to microscopic
mites and little fanged creatures

And tufts of millions
of strands of fungi.

In just one gram
of this material

You can find somewhere in
the order of ten billion bacteria

Belonging to several
thousand species

Almost all of which are
still unknown to science.

Among the animals that
are visible to the naked eye

The social insects
completely dominate.

If we were to take all
the animals in this forest

From birds and snakes

Down to little insects
and roundworms

We'd find that the ants
and the termites make up

About one-third
of the total weight.

And I'd say that within ten
yards of where I'm sitting

We could expect to find

A hundred or more species
of ants and termites alone.

Narrator: so on
almost every count...

Success through geologic
time, geographic range

And sheer weight of numbers...

Ants and other social
insects come out ahead.

But what gives them the edge
over insects that go it alone?

Ed wilson has clearly shown
that much of the answer lies

In the way they
coordinate their behavior

Through efficient communication.

Wilson: the amazing thing is

That they communicate
mostly with chemicals...

With substances that
they pass back and forth

And taste and smell.

I can communicate directly

With the ants myself...
These fire ants on the table...

Simply by taking

An extract of the bodies
of several of the workers

Dipping this sharpened stick in

And laying a trail on the
table for them to follow.

And they'll go
wherever I tell them.

Each one of these fire ants
has only a billionth of a gram...

That's ten billionths
of an ounce...

Of that substance in its body

And yet the material
is so powerful

That a milligram of it
is theoretically enough

To lead a column of the ants
three times around the world.

Ants generally use

Between ten and 20
chemical signals of this kind

To alert nest mates to danger

To lead them from
one place to another

To identify the caste of
their nest mates, and so on

Through the whole
bizarre vocabulary

To keep the colony well
organized and efficient.

Narrator: the only insect superpowers
to rival ants for numbers

Are the termites, and they, too

Rely almost entirely on
chemicals for communication.

Descendants of wood-eating
c*ck rather than wasps

They've developed a complex
family life much like the ants'

With a huge queen tended
by sl*ve-like offspring

Who devote their lives to
looking after her and her young.

Ants and termites have
been deadly enemies

For a hundred million years

And much of their rivalry
has been over living space.

Ed wilson considers
that for both groups

Togetherness is their
greatest strength.

Wilson: here in the
trinidad rain forest

This strange-looking object

Is home to maybe a
hundred thousand termites.

It was built by a
remarkable team effort

And the termites use the
sheer strength of their numbers

To defend it against
their enemies.

When I break into
the nest like this

The first wave out...

Are the soldiers.

Each one of them has
a nozzle-shaped head

From which it squirts

A stream of noxious chemicals
in a glue-like substance.

Now, that stops
most enemies cold

But if I back off

After a while, the
soldiers will go back in.

Then the next caste comes
out: the soft, white workers.

They bring up building
material from inside the nest

And use it to patch
over the hole.

Colonies can survive
heavy assaults on their nest

Because they're able to bring
out large numbers of individuals

Who work cooperatively
and very efficiently.

Social insects like this
generally do better

Than solitary insects also

Because the individuals
can afford to risk their lives

Even give their lives away.

If some of them die in
the attack, no matter.

They'll soon be replaced

By newborn brothers
and sisters inside the nest.

Narration: simple homes protect termites
in the humid forests of the tropics

But they build huge fortresses

In the harsher conditions
of the australian outback

And the african bush.

Termites build perhaps the most
impressive homes of all animals.

In some places

Their mounds cover nearly
a third of the land surface

And the total weight of termites

Can equal that of all
the mammals in the area.

Vast teams of tiny workers
build 20-foot skyscrapers.

That's two miles
high in human terms.

But termites have
their limitations.

They eat only dead wood
and other plant matter

Although in huge amounts.

But when it comes to
k*lling, they are no match

For the fearsome ants, who
combine a harmonious homelife

With a ruthless
approach to their enemies.

Columns of kenyan raid ants
set off in pursuit of termites

Following a chemical
trail laid down by scouts.

The ants bunch together as
they approach the termites' nest

Before pouring into their
underground chambers.

The raiders dump each
victim on the surface

Before returning for more

While others begin to
gather up the corpses.

At the height of the raid

The surface is littered
with dead termites.

The raid ends as
suddenly as it began

And the ants collect
their booty and head home.

Each ant carries up to
ten termites in its jaws.

They've k*lled over 3,000
in the space of ten minutes

Not enough to destroy the colony

For they'll need to
come back another day.

By combining force of numbers
with organized aggression

Ants have become the
greatest insect K*llers on earth.

But all creatures have reason
to fear one particular african ant

Whose cavernous shafts descend

Six feet or more
into the ground.

These ants live

In the biggest single
colonies of any animal on earth

With up to 20 million sisters
operating like a huge monster

With a monstrous
appetite to match.

These are driver ants.

When they march, nothing
in their path is safe.

They've been known to k*ll
tethered horses, human babies

And have even been
used to execute criminals.

Soldier ants stand guard
over the marching column.

The river of ants divides

Spreading out over
the forest floor.

Few victims escape
once the ants get a grip.

Millions act like a
fearsome superorganism

Emerging from its
lair, sending out

Long tentacles of marching
workers to engulf its prey.

A giant slug seems
an unlikely target

Its thick slime a sticky trap.

But the persistent
ants overwhelm the slug.

They have a neat trick
to soak up the slime

Sticking tiny fragments of
leaf and soil all over the slug.

The soldiers now get to work

Slicing it up like a beached
whale with their powerful jaws.

The ants then release
their trapped sisters.

It's all for one
and one for all.

The relentless army marches on.

Those that can, leap for safety,
while others watch from above

As hordes of c*ck
and other insects

Are driven ahead of the raid.

Many that escape the ants run
right into the path of shrikes

And other birds that
feast on fleeing insects.

There's no safety in fleeing
upwards, for the ants follow.

A praying mantis is more than
a match for just a few ants.

But with so many attackers,
it can't eat them fast enough.

They carry the mantis
off piece by piece.

Several ants share
the heaviest loads.

Workers labor to
keep the trail clear.

Soldiers form living
archways over the columns

And hold back twigs and leaves.

It's a genuine team effort.

The ants return home

Carrying their spoils
deep underground

Where millions of developing
grubs are waiting to be fed.

In ant society, no job
is left undone for long

And back outside, yet
another task force

Throws out the
remains of past victims.

Driver ants k*ll
almost everything

Within range of their nests

And relocate from time
to time to find enough food.

With no fixed abode, wars
between colonies are rare.

But in the deserts of arizona

Warfare between ant
superpowers is waged nonstop

For these ants have
permanent homes

And their cellars
are full of treasure.

These grotesquely swollen
creatures are honeypot ants

And they devote
themselves to the colony

As living storage pots.

In times of plenty, their
sisters fill them to bursting

With nectar from desert blooms

And demand it back
during lean dry spells.

The colony can live on
these stores for weeks

But when the weather allows

They venture forth
in search of prey.

They check out hidden entrances

And savage any juicy
termites they find.

Such a find is best
kept in the family

And a scout, on
meeting a stranger

Runs back to its own nest.

Reinforcements pour out
to confront the opposition

While others continue
to gather termites.

Instead of launching
straight into battle

These ants limit their losses
by aggressive posturing.

They square up to rivals

Standing on tiptoe to
seem as large as possible

While checking the others'
size with their feelers.

They recognize
their sisters by odor

And separate
immediately on meeting.

They often climb up onto stones,
perhaps to appear larger still

For one colony seems to
judge another's strength

By how many large
workers show up.

Colonies appear to remember
how they fared in recent conflicts

And back off where
they've lost before.

But if they sense an advantage

They'll send all available
forces into battle

To drive their opponents
back to their nests.

As in human warfare,
the worst routs occur

When one side fails to assess
the other's strength accurately.

And when forces
are poorly matched

Posturing soon
gives way to fighting

And the smaller
colony is overrun.

Tactical ant warfare has
even attracted interest

From defense analysts

Trying to sharpen
up their methods

Of assessing enemy strength.

The victorious ants
raid their opponents' nest

For the spoils of w*r, dragging
off the struggling honeypots.

Damaged honeypots are eaten,
the rest forced into bondage

Feeding their new
masters on demand

A system uncomfortably
reminiscent of human sl*very.

Wise use of military
strength pays off for ants

But is force the only way?

Not all ants use violence
to dominate their world.

Some use more subtle
methods to get their way.

These particular
ants are dairy farmers.

They're gently looking after
a group of tiny treehoppers

Which is a kind of bug that
sucks the juice of forest trees.

These little creatures
living together in a bunch

Offer the ants
the excess they get

In the form of honeydew droplets

A sweet-tasting liquid that's
rich in sugar and amino acids.

This kind of relationship has
existed for millions of years

Long before human beings
ever started tending cattle

And some of the connections
have become intimately close...

As close and ingenious
as anything ever devised

By human culture.

Take, for example,
the true herdsman ants

Of the malaysian rain forest.

Narrator: these ants get
all their food as honeydew

From vast herds of tiny bugs.

The bugs rely entirely on
the ants to care for them

While they busily suck
juices from young leaves

Or unburst flowers.

When the plants start to age

The bugs stop feeding
and the herdsmen move in.

They tenderly gather
up every single bug

Both young and adult

Completely clearing the
plant within an hour or two.

The herdsmen now head off

Taking their precious
livestock with them.

Following a chemical
trail laid down by scouts

The bugs are carried up
toward the lushest growing tips.

The herders now release them

To begin feeding in
their new pastures.

The secret of these
ants' long-term success

Lies hidden high in
a bamboo thicket.

Their nest, deep in
an old bamboo log

Is the heart of an operation

That only a complex
society could run.

Thousands of ants link
legs to form a living cradle

To support a new
generation of herdsmen.

These roofs and
walls of living ants

Also shelter
expectant mother bugs

Whose tiny yellow
young are born here

And then taken out to feed.

After a few weeks in one place

The living scaffold
begins to untangle.

The most pivotal event in their
farming calendar is imminent.

For these herdsmen are nomads

And regularly move
the entire operation

Taking all their own young

And their breeding
stock of bugs with them.

They take the jungle
obstacle course in their stride

Linking together to form living
bridges over awkward gaps.

The colony settles into a
new home, selected by scouts

For easy access to
their new pastures.

Partnerships between
ants and other creatures

Have evolved over a
hundred million years

So the fact that
they work so well

Is no surprise to ed wilson.

Wilson: but ants go far
beyond just animal husbandry.

They've also become
gardeners and agriculturists

And in so doing, they run a
good part of the plant world

In a far more intimate
and harmonious way

Than human beings
have ever achieved.

The south american
plant cecropia

Has one of the closest
relationships of all with ants.

Its hollow stem
gives them a home

And it provides a daily
crop of little white nodules

To feed them.

The ants harvest
this crop rapidly

And carry it back into the nest.

The starchy nodules are
produced exclusively for the ants

Who eat very little else.

Inside the stem, the
huge queen lives in safety

Surrounded by piles of grubs.

No home could be better.

But why should the
plant be so hospitable?

When it's threatened,
the reason becomes clear.

These tiny ants which
are pouring off the tree

Onto my hand are the
cecropia plant's private army.

Scientists have very
appropriately given

The name azteca, after
the indian warrior nation.

Even though they're
only a millionth my size

They're able to drive
me off pretty quickly

With their sharp little jaws.

But their real importance
is the protection they give

Against the plant's
natural enemies.

Narrator: many insects, like this
beetle, feast on cecropia leaves

Unless they meet resistance.

But a plant with an army
of ants to defend it is safe.

Buying protection with ant
food pays off in a big way.

Cecropia, with a
lot of guards, thrive

And the ants affect
the plant world

In even more spectacular ways.

Teams of tiny gardeners
shape entire landscapes.

Up to half the wild flowers
in american woodlands

Are planted by ants.

Spring beauties, violets

Trillium and many
others encourage ants...

Not birds or mammals...
To sow their seeds.

Some produce pods
which fall and burst open

While others lay their
seeds directly on the ground

For the ants to distribute.

But this is no free service.

The ants are enticed by
the white flesh on the seeds

Whose taste they
find irresistible.

Unselfish as ever

The ants carry these
treats back home to share.

Their nest is just below ground

Where the ants tend their
hordes of hungry young.

These tasty prizes
attract workers

Chained to underground duties

For their flesh is a
delicious kind of fruit...

The strawberries, apples
and melons of the ants.

Chewed seeds are dumped in
compost heaps inside the nest.

They look damaged but
are perfectly healthy

And are ideally
placed to germinate.

Ants are now known to disperse
thousands of different plants

Around the world
for such bribes.

In amazonia, ant horticulture
goes even further.

Ants grow hanging gardens here

Rooted in nests of
chewed plant fiber.

Right on their doorsteps,
all sorts of flowers bloom.

And this floral display is
more than just for show.

The blossoms produce
nectar on demand.

When the ants take the seeds
inside the nest to germinate

The garden is maintained
and new growth ensured.

The hanging gardens of
amazonia are a natural wonder

Created entirely by ants.

And the clearest evidence
that ants control their world

Has just been discovered in
the steamy jungles of peru.

Thousands of different
plants grow side by side here

More than anywhere
else on earth.

And yet amidst this
rampant foliage

Are mysterious clearings
known as "gardens of the devil."

Hemmed in by dense jungle,
areas the size of tennis courts

Contain just two kinds of
plant, with bare leaf litter below.

The peruvian indians
believe black magic is at work

And leave the fruits well alone

But the gardens
really belong to ants.

Although these ants are
particularly small and feeble

They live in enormous extended
families in the hollow stems

Of the two plants that
grow in the clearings.

Each day thousands of ants
pour down onto the forest floor.

They're waging a long-term w*r
against the encroaching jungle.

Every alien seedling is attacked

With slashing
jaws and herbicide.

They spread formic
acid from poison glands

Onto the young shoots and chew
away persistently at leaf st*lks

To cut off the life-giving sap.

Although each ant is tiny

So many attack that
every seedling is k*lled.

By weeding out invading plants

They remove potential
homes for fiercer ants

And keep areas... In ant terms,
the size of new york city...

To themselves.

But the most
famous tropical ants

Are not so much weeders
as plunderers of plants.

Leaf-cutter ants
remove more greenery

Than any other animal
from south american forests

And they devastate human crops.

They use powerful jaws
to slice the thickest leaves.

Each segment is the
equivalent of a 500-pound weight

But ants have
tremendous strength.

Their labors
continue day and night.

In a complex process
involving many ants of all sizes

Doing different jobs
with great efficiency.

The scale of the
operation is vast.

Returning to their nest

Leaf cutters run the ant
equivalent of a marathon

At a four-minute-mile
pace all the way.

In ed wilson's eyes

Theirs is the most
impressive of all ant societies.

Wilson: this is the
surface of the nest

Of just one colony
of leaf-cutter ants.

A colony this size can hold

As many as two or even
three million workers...

All the daughters
of a single queen

That they keep deep
down inside the nest.

As the foragers go into the nest

They proceed on downward
for as much as 15, 20 feet.

That's in human terms the
equivalent of about a mile.

In its life span

The colony can move as
much as 40,000 pounds of soil.

That's the ant equivalent
of the great wall of china.

That means that the leaf cutters

Are pretty vital elements
of the rain forest ecosystem.

They move, they aerate

They fertilize more
soil than earthworms.

A colony like this has the
appetite of a full-grown cow

And the colonies all around

Consume almost a fifth of the
vegetation growth every year.

It's an onslaught, yet the
forest keeps flourishing.

How is that possible?

Narrator: long-term studies show

That leaf cutter
have favorite targets

And go to great lengths

To reach the tender new
leaves high in the canopy.

They soon move on
to strip other trees

Along trails they've
cut in the forest.

In time, the same trees
are attacked again

But not before they've
recovered fully.

We humans are much less careful.

[ chain saw buzzing]

People often have a
harmful impact on the planet

While the social ants run
their world in a more stable way.

They've had far longer to
get things right, and it shows.

Wilson: social existence has paid
off in a very big way in evolution.

Ants and other social insects

Are by a long margin the
most social small animals

And they're also
the most abundant.

And of course human
beings are by a wide margin

The most social big
animals of any kind.

The question I guess
I'm most often asked

Is "what are the similarities
between ants and human beings

Particularly in their
social behavior?"

And my answer has
to be "not many at all"

But there are some very
important differences

And when you look
at those closely

Then you do illuminate the
human condition somewhat.

I guess that the
real difference lies

In reproductive
rights and expectations.

Essentially, a worker
ant or a bee, wasp, termite

Doesn't have any.

They are bound to
the colony in a way

That makes them meaningful
only as members of the colony.

They are little robots
programmed to do work

For the colony to survive.

The exact opposite is the
case with human beings.

We join societies and we
work to make them succeed

Primarily for ourselves.

We've learned how to
cooperate to an extreme degree.

We are capable of altruism.

We do it by the unique
genius of human behavior

Which is the ability

To form long-term
binding social contracts.

But in doing it

In building up a society that
is so enormously successful

We have entered into
an eternal paradox...

A tension between individuality
and self-serving on the one side

And the needs of the
society on the other

That makes individual
success guaranteed.

And that is, I'm afraid,
inherent in the human condition.

We'll always suffer that
tension and walk the fine line.

The question
inevitably comes to mind

That if these inherent
weaknesses in human society

Ever prove fatal

And if we ruin the planet
for ourselves and disappear

How would our own extinction
affect the world we left behind?

I believe that ants and
other social insects

Would hold on somewhere

And life would pretty much
come back to what it was

Before we arrived on the scene.

Then the ecosystems
would return to a balance

And the ants and the
other social insects

Would be right there with them

Filling the
environment as before

And going on as before

Probably for tens of millions
of years into the future.

educators and home viewers

a production of wgbh boston