Learning from ants...

If we thought humans were the only ones who have learnt the art of being social, then the ants would make you think otherwise.

In many ways they are far superior especially when it comes to teamwork. It is the queen, the mother, in charge and in her colony she has soldiers and workers who work continuously.

What is spellbinding is their information network. Leave something they like on the ground and in no time one of them will find its way there, followed by the whole entourage. They maintain their line and join together in their work of collecting the resource and go back home. If they find another single ant who could be an information gatherer, they do not mind sharing the information.

Together they are capable of carrying a dead lizard.

They make no noise, or do they?

Are we not just able to hear their frequency?

They are so intelligent and meticulous in their work that one does not feel like disturbing their system. But there is a variety of ants and their style of operations vary too and our reactions too.

The ones that bite, we are not very fond of are we?

There, they let us on our journey of self-discovery.

Words can bite us, poison our mind at times and might kill us as well. It might be best to avoid the sources of such words – spoken or written. They can leave deep scars, which might never heal and if healed, never be forgotten.

This is why we have to consider a conversation as an art.

When I was a child my mother had advised me to never ask anyone personal questions, no matter how close the friend is. “If they want, they will tell you themselves,” she had said.

One of many books I received from my father as gifts talked about conversations and winning friends.

Put together the advice was interesting while shaping interviewing techniques as a journalist. For 30 years the practice has been on and most of the times the way to find the answers was to lead the interviewee to the topic but the best part is when the conversations flow naturally.

When to ask and what to ask continue to be the golden rule. After all, the interviewee is the star and their time is a gift given to the interviewer. Of course, the media can always say they can get publicity and gain attention.

The media is evolving too and most people today are into micro blogging and have their own information outlets. AI could make this even easier perhaps but there is an element of understanding and respecting emotions that aid interviewing techniques. A conversation is about give and take. And in moments of excitement it is hard to contain oneself from interrupting the other person who is the speaker. Patience is a gift because what an individual likes the most is knowing that he or she is being listened to.

This is tricky because daydreaming is not allowed. Besides, you might not be able to catch up with the conversation and frame your follow up question.

A beautiful conversation brings about a story that is special because each person has their own unique story. And as humans we love stories. There might be a danger in today’s world where we are so immersed in our own reels, stories, posts and shorts that we fail in our age-old passion for storytelling and listening.

As for our story of the ant there is so much to learn from them, such as how to save for the future. They do not just live for today and for their generation they store food for seasons to come.

So how do they communicate?

It is the chemical pheromones that they leave behind as they walk around that helps other ants to follow the original trail of the first ant who took the path to discovery of food (in this case). This is why they walk in one line. They might have been practicing this for centuries. It is their little legs that leave the mark for others to follow.

Whether AI or not ants will continue what they know and their work as eco cleaners must be appreciated. Did you know that when ants touch each other’s head which to us looks like a conversation is actually a way to check on the other ant’s diet?

And that should take us to another intricate trail to know their way of finding food.

Now we know what the ants were communicating and why the ant keepers are so fascinated with their ant farms.

We were food gatherers once upon a time, but today we look beyond luxury and unfortunately there are many who still struggle for food.