Doug, this is a really bad example, because anthills and termite nests (of the African kind) are extremely complex architectural structures with huge amounts of variety that are modified by the insects according to changing circumstances. As builders of cities they stand in relation to human beings as human beings stand in relation to the beaver.
None of this indicates that ants and termites are mental giants or consciously planning these immense projects out, but that you can't see variations in ant nests doesn't prevent an entymologist from doing it.
--- On Thu, 4/16/09, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] good morning my fellow ecosystems
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Thursday, April 16, 2009, 11:43 PM
>
> On Apr 16, 2009, at 10:31 PM, Michael Smith wrote:
>
> > Golly! Who knew that Marx was such an idealist? And of
> course he
> > was a very confident guy, bless him, but how could
> have known so
> > much one way or the other about the subjectivity of
> the spider?
>
> Ah yes, look at all the infinite variety in spider webs,
> and beehives, and anthills. As different as a shingle-style
> house and Chandigargh.
>
> Doug
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