Originally Posted by
Paul Alciatore
Mother Nature!
Evolution. Survival of the fittest. But one must wonder just how many generations it takes for such behavior to develop. I would guess it is well beyond tens of thousands, perhaps millions or more. First, one ant learned to draw a morsel of food back to the nest. Then, two grabbed the same morsel and fought over it. Then they learned not to fight, but cooperate. Etc.
The "learning" is not just getting a bright idea. It is a random process of changes in the genes, some better and others worse. And the ones with the better changes tend to have more offspring who survive. It is a slow process.