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https://theconversation.com/what-constitutes-a-mind-lars-chittka-challenges-our-perception-of-sentience-with-the-smallest-of-creatures-182855>
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Review: The Mind of a Bee – Lars Chittka (Princeton University Press).
At the beginning of my research career around 15 years ago, any suggestion that
a bee, or any invertebrate, had a mind of its own or that it could experience
the world in an intricate and multifaceted way would be met with ridicule. As
Lars Chittka points out in the opening chapters of
The Mind of a Bee, the
attribution of human emotions and experiences was seen as naivety and
ignorance; anthropomorphism was a dirty word.
Pet owners eagerly ascribe emotions to their animals, but the simple brain of a
bee surely could not experience the rich tapestry that is our existence. They
are far too simplistic and robotic, right?
Lars Chittka has been researching honeybees for the past 30 years.
The Mind of
a Bee is a collection of his research stories. It also covers the influential
figures in bee research and provides a historical perspective on the research
that much behavioural work is built on today.
People have long been curious about the behaviour of bees. Many questions posed
in the 1800s are still around. While Chittka’s beautifully collated and
captivating “story” does not present research results that are necessarily new,
to read them presented together like this, I find myself tantalised by
questions I had not thought to ponder. For example, how do bees decide who
stays and who leaves when a swarm is formed?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
