The ant colony as a test for scientific theories of consciousness

Here we address the scientific study of consciousness by proposing the ant colony as a model system. We introduce the Ant Colony Test (ACT) as a rigorous reverse test for consciousness, showing that social insect colonies fulfill many prerequisites for conscious awareness met by humans and honey bee workers. A long lineage of philosophically-neutral neurobehavioral, evolutionary, and ecological studies on social insect colonies can thus be redeployed for the study of consciousness in general.

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