"People stand out for individual cognitive abilities while ants excel in cooperation.". //

Ants maneuvering a T-shaped load across a maze. //

The piano-mover puzzle involves trying to transport an oddly shaped load across a constricted environment with various obstructions. It's one of several variations on classic computational motion-planning problems, a key element in numerous robotics applications. But what would happen if you pitted human beings against ants in a competition to solve the piano-mover puzzle?

According to a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, humans have superior cognitive abilities and, hence, would be expected to outperform the ants. However, depriving people of verbal or nonverbal communication can level the playing field, with ants performing better in some trials. And while ants improved their cognitive performance when acting collectively as a group, the same did not hold true for humans. //

bugabuga Ars Centurion
18y
268
But wouldn't a group of ants "communicate" by default? And "do not communicate" equivalent would mean turning off their sense of scent and otherwise hindered set of ants? The group of humans that does communicate solves problems better, so wisdom of crowds continues to be the expected outcome.

"Let's put individual humans into a group and prohibit them from doing thing that is making group successful. Oh, look, group was unsuccessful!!! AMAZING!" :). //

fkaOld_one Ars Centurion
4y
322
I don't know who I am said:
How did they get the ants to do it?
Yeah… why would ants want to move a piano? //

Calidore Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
11y
121
EmeraldArcana said:
Humans don’t do a good job communicating through pheromones. Those who’ve tried are often ridiculed.

The Doctor: They could communicate only by precisely modulated gastric emissions.

Emma: Oh no! Planet of the Bottom Burpers! So what happened to them?

The Doctor: They discovered fire. //

Les Pane Smack-Fu Master, in training
9y
95
Aren't humans just better at moving pianos because they're chord-ates?

[I'm so very, very sorry for that. Truly.]