A thought-provoking quote about an experiment with black ants and red ants in a jar has been circulating online for years It describes how when left alone, the ants coexist peacefully But when the jar is shaken violently, the ants turn on each other, believing those of a different color are the enemy.
This analogy about ants is then related to society – how various groups may clash due to external manipulation rather than innate hostility. On the surface it seems plausible. But is the story about the battling ants actually true? Or is it an invented tale to illustrate a point?
Breaking Down the Viral Ant Analogy
The quote in question goes something like this:
“If you put 100 black ants and 100 red ants in a jar, nothing will happen. But if you violently shake the jar and leave it on the table, the ants will start killing each other. The red ants think the black ants are the enemy, and vice versa, when the real enemy is the person who shook the jar.”
It then draws parallels to societal divisions – men vs women, young vs old, black vs white, etc. The message is that we shouldn’t fight amongst each other, but instead ask who is manipulating things behind the scenes.
Possible Origins from Literature
This ant tale does not appear to originate from any real scientific study. The earliest mentions online come from around 2020, where the source is listed as “unknown” or “anonymous.”
Some believe it may have been inspired by a passage in Kurt Vonnegut’s 1963 novel Cat’s Cradle:
“I can’t remember what all Frank had fighting in the jar that day, but I can remember other bug fights we staged later on: one stag beetle against a hundred red ants, one centipede against three spiders, red ants against black ants. They won’t fight unless you keep shaking the jar. And that’s what Frank was doing, shaking, shaking the jar.”
This fictional scene of a child shaking up a jar of battling bugs closely mirrors the viral ant story.
Misattributed to Famous Naturalist
More recently, the quote has been misattributed to renowned nature documentarian Sir David Attenborough. However, there is no record of him ever saying this.
Attenborough has spoken extensively about ants in his decades of work. But this specific allegory about red and black ants does not appear to come from him.
Misrepresenting a quote from literature or an anonymous online post as coming from a famous figure like Attenborough gives it an air of legitimacy. However, the ants in the jar analogy remains fictional.
Ant Behavior in Reality
While the violent encounter between shaken red and black ants makes a compelling metaphor, real ant behavior is more nuanced. Here are some facts about how ants interact:
-
Ants often avoid fighting using pheromone trails and scent markings on territory boundaries.
-
Wars between different ant colonies do occur, but are not that common.
-
Intraspecies aggression is dependent on multiple factors like nest proximity, food supply, and reproductive status.
-
Ants can recognize and accept colony members through shared cuticular hydrocarbons that give each colony a distinct “scent ID.”
-
Foreign ants that lack the right scent cues are often rejected or attacked, while accepted ants are tolerated.
-
Different species may fight over territory and resources or prey on each other. But they don’t automatically attack every ant that looks different.
While ants can certainly be aggressive, the reality of ant interactions is more complex than just attacking anything that has a different color, as the viral quote implies.
An Appeal to Shared Humanity
Even if the original story is fabricated, the core message can still resonate. By drawing parallels between the fighting ants and human societal divides, it highlights how outside sources often exacerbate conflict unnecessarily.
The analogy challenges people to think about who or what is “shaking the jar” – be it politicians emphasizing divisions, media outlets sensationalizing stories, foreign entities sowing discord, or corporations profiting off segmentation.
And it asks us to consider how to reject the narrative of other groups being adversaries. Identifying shared struggles and common humanity can be more constructive than demonizing perceived opponents.
So while the battling bugs may not reflect real ant behavior, the call for empathy rather than enmity contains some wisdom to reflect on. Even fiction, it seems, can illuminate truth at times.
The viral story of red and black ants peacefully coexisting until external shaking forces them to fight appears to be invented, not scientific fact. But the desire for people to stop viewing those unlike themselves as enemies is one worth striving for, regardless of the authenticity of some thought-provoking ants in a jar.