Friday, April 3, 2009

Ants ate my homework

I'm sorry I didn't complete my assigned paper on "Origin of the Species" Mrs. Fangelmeyer. I REALLY tried and would've too, except for ants liking Mountain Dew. See yesterday morning I accidentally left a half drunk (dranken?) soda on my bedroom window sill, and when I got home there was a long line of those little sugar ants going to it.

No ma'am, it's not an excuse. You taught us how ants live in colonies, and only the queen reproduces. It was very interesting. And you taught us Mr. Darwin figured out that individuals of each species obey a biological imperative to pass along their genes. And through random mutations, some of which improve the mutant's ability to reproduce, this becomes in time the dominant trait of the species. I just can't understand where the ants come in.

If Mr. Darwin is right, at some point individual ants stopped caring about passing along their traits, and started disobeying the biological imperative. How this could happen through mutation, I just don't understand. Were there once colonies where all the ants had babies? And then in this other colony, some mutation rendered all the millions in it suddenly sexless, except for one? And all the suddenly sexless ants also mutated at the same time to intensely desire to care for another ant's babies?

I just don't understand how such a mutation could take place spontaneously among millions of individuals. And I can't understand how such a mutation could take place gradually either, within a colony.

Did Mr. Darwin ever write a book called "Origin of the Ants"? Cause I'd really like to read that, it would be VERY cool!

Yes ma'am. I'll shut up and go to the Principal's office now.

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