EVOLUTION AND HUMAN DESTINY 



an examination of the various colonies of multicellular 

 animals that are known to exist and to consideration 

 of the extent to which the evolution of societal organ- 

 isms is already under way. 



INSECT COLONIES ILLUSTRATE THE PROCESS 



The colonies formed by certain insects will be the 

 first example to be considered. Nearly everyone knows 

 something about the bees, the ants and the termites. 

 Indeed the concept of an "ant state," or "bee state" 

 has been suggested by many observers. Therefore the 

 view regarding these colonies, as evolving organisms, 

 may be regarded by the reader as presenting nothing 

 new, except perhaps a somewhat altered terminology. 

 Yet what this treatise is most concerned with is not so 

 much the presentation of new facts, as it is with view- 

 ing these facts in their proper perspective. 



The manner in which insect colonies function col- 

 lectively has always been a source of wonder — and lack 

 of real understanding. Without probing into the actual 

 mechanism, some light may be thrown on the problem 

 of effective functioning of insect colonies, by the real- 

 ization that one is evidently dealing with a similar 

 "mystery" as the one that surrounds the question; 

 "why do cells act in coordinated fashion in multi- 

 cellular organisms?" 



One aspect that strikes the observer as especially 

 remarkable about the insect colonies is their apparent 



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