Do other creatures have generational cycles?

[Nathan G]

It's a fascinating idea that popped in my head: are humans the only species that experiences an historical cycle? Ostensibly, I and most sociologists would probably say no, but it may be an interesting thing to study. On the one hand, only humans have the capacity for religious awakenings/secular wars, but on the other hand, there are many animals that demonstrate some complex forms of social or even political structures. (Think of the "colonies" created by ants and bees, or the "tribes" formed by chimpanzees, elephants, and whales).

Naturally, it would be very easy to experiment on such a theory. Unlike humans, most animals live for very short periods, and consequently are rather easy to observe in controlled environments. Take ants for example. Ants reach maturity around 3-4 weeks, and live to be about 3-4 months before dying. Therefore, our hypothesis would be that each "turning" for a colony of ants is about 25 days, and each "saeculum" is about 100 days. Close observation of ant colonies over several months should quickly yield whether the hypothesis is correct or not. I have no idea what that would come out as, though, being that biology is not my forte.

But, as I said before, it probably isn't true. Humans base their actions off of previous experience, and therefore are primarily affected by older generations. Animals, however, act entirely on instinct, and this behavior is exactly the same from one generation to the next.

Fascinating, isn't it?
Nathan G

[John]

> It's a fascinating idea that popped in my head: are humans the
> only species that experiences an historical cycle? Ostensibly, I
> and most sociologists would probably say no, but it may be an
> interesting thing to study. On the one hand, only humans have the
> capacity for religious awakenings/secular wars, but on the other
> hand, there are many animals that demonstrate some complex forms
> of social or even political structures. (Think of the "colonies"
> created by ants and bees, or the "tribes" formed by chimpanzees,
> elephants, and whales).

> Naturally, it would be very easy to experiment on such a
> theory. Unlike humans, most animals live for very short periods,
> and consequently are rather easy to observe in controlled
> environments. Take ants for example. Ants reach maturity around
> 3-4 weeks, and live to be about 3-4 months before
> dying. Therefore, our hypothesis would be that each "turning" for
> a colony of ants is about 25 days, and each "saeculum" is about
> 100 days. Close observation of ant colonies over several months
> should quickly yield whether the hypothesis is correct or not. I
> have no idea what that would come out as, though, being that
> biology is not my forte.

> But, as I said before, it probably isn't true. Humans base their
> actions off of previous experience, and therefore are primarily
> affected by older generations. Animals, however, act entirely on
> instinct, and this behavior is exactly the same from one
> generation to the next.

> Fascinating, isn't it? Nathan G

Go back to Thoreau's story of the war between the two ant colonies
that he watched. After the war ended, each side had to reconstruct
its "society" in some way, perhaps by doing things differently. After
25 days, maybe the new generation of ants rebelled against the new
regime, and they all started to go back to the old mistakes, so that
there was a new war between the two ant colonies 50 days later. Why
not?

[Nathan G]

So I guess the experiment would go something like this: take two ant colonies and start a war between them. Then, carefully observe their societies after the climax of the conflict. Those born 1-25 days later would be "Prophet ants", those born 26-50 days later would be "Nomad ants", those born 51-75 days later would be "Hero ants", and finally those born after 76-100 days would be "Artist ants". We would expect an "awakening" about 40-50 days after the war, and a "crisis" after about 80-100 days. To simulate Malthusian economics, it might be best not to alter the natural resources around them after the first war.

Now I just wish I knew a real biologist to do this for me.