Instinct is a rather vague concept,

it universally accepted that somehow animals are somehow born with certain habits, without explaining in the least how this actually happens. Ants crawl on power lines without the slightest trace of self-consciousness or irony, following the paths of their ancestors that never knew house nor barn, much less transformers nor transformation. Ants exhibit a degree of complexity and social organization unknown to humans except in possibly some of the more densely populated areas of China, each carrying more than its own weight, yet readily joining efforts with others when necessary, following complex paths that frequently involve short cuts through my house. They do all this with obviously extremely limited mental capacity, and I doubt seriously that the species would go extinct if suddenly all the power lines in the world were to disappear. I think they’d adapt. I think they’d make new plans, with or without legalistic sanctions for enforcement. I think they’d update old plans for new situations. I think they’d elect new officers and keep right on going into the future.

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