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Philosophy Phriday: Video Interview with Ram Neta

The Daily Ant hosts a weekly series, Philosophy Phridays, in which real philosophers share their thoughts at the intersection of ants and philosophy. This interview with Dr. Ram Neta is the third contribution in the series.

On Tuesday, Dr. Ram Neta sat down with The Daily Ant to discuss ants, rationality, and more – Enjoy!

RamNetaDr. Ram Neta is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He specializes in epistemology and rationality, and has published many manuscripts on these subjects. For another YouTube video featuring Dr. Neta and rationality, click here.

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8 responses to “Philosophy Phriday: Video Interview with Ram Neta”

  1. Derek Langston Avatar
    Derek Langston

    I just shared with my co-workers the concept of oral-anal trophallaxis. I think we are all a little more glad to be humans today.

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    1. Benjamin Blanchard Avatar
      Benjamin Blanchard

      Or, given the success of social insects, maybe there’s something to it that we just don’t have the capacity to understand!

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      1. Derek Langston Avatar
        Derek Langston

        I enter, “The Human Centipede” into evidence to support my original statement.

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      2. Benjamin Blanchard Avatar
        Benjamin Blanchard

        You seem to be operating under a vertebrate paradigm. The bias against insects in film has been well documented.

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  2. evblan Avatar
    evblan

    Dr. Neta’s insight into the Zhuangzi quote suggested to me that saints do not impose themselves or their ideas on others, and, in fact, they empower those who might otherwise be seen as inferior. Don’t put others down, lift them up.

    Also, can ant brains be studied beyond external morphology? Can insect MRI’s, fMRI’s, or other tests be run to track blood flow under different conditions? If the brains are too small to be tested with modern technology, could we use Ant Man’s shrinking technology to fix this problem?

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    1. Benjamin Blanchard Avatar
      Benjamin Blanchard

      Very interesting question – it’s actually possible to do some level of ant brain dissection, and I’m sure one could do it while the ant is still alive? Also using a photon imaging thingamajig (like at Argonne National Laboratory), you can taking really cool micro videos of internal movements in things like insects – maybe that could work for brain blood flow? If not, maybe I can try to get an NSF grant to develop Ant Man’s shrinking technology.

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  3. Ant Brains and Division of Labor | The Daily Ant Avatar
    Ant Brains and Division of Labor | The Daily Ant

    […] our recent Philosophy Phriday interview with UNC philosopher Ram Neta, Dr. Neta expressed surprise at the fact that ants have brains. But ants do indeed have brains, as […]

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  4. Philosophy Phriday [On a Tuesday]: Video Interview With Branden Fitelson – The Daily Ant Avatar
    Philosophy Phriday [On a Tuesday]: Video Interview With Branden Fitelson – The Daily Ant

    […] Daily Ant to discuss probability, coher-ants, E.O. Wilson, and more! Although this is our fourth video interview, we’re still learning the ropes of this (surprisingly) difficult format. But […]

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