Ant Antics teach us about Sacrificial Survival?

One day, while out in nature, I witnessed an astonishing sight: several dozen ants had fallen into my five-litre transparent container of water. At first, they struggled separately, but then they gradually began to gather into a cluster. Seeing how the ants climbed on top of each other and, as it seemed to me, drowned their own in order to survive, I decided not to help them.

How great was my surprise when, two hours later, I saw those ants still alive. They had created a small floating living island, arranging themselves in the form of a pyramid. I became fascinated by the resilience of these insects and started watching them closely. Those at the bottom, of course, were in the water, but only for a CERTAIN period of time. They were VOLUNTARILY replaced by ants from the upper rows. The latter would climb down into the water, and only after that the exhausted ones, who had been supporting their comrades, climbed onto the living island to rest, later returning to take another turn. And not a single one of them tried to scramble to the top; on the contrary, they hurried to go down into the water, where it was the hardest.

I was amazed by their heroic self-sacrifice and mutual assistance, and so I decided to help them sooner. I found a spoon that fit easily into the neck of the container. When the ants saw the rescue, they climbed out onto dry land one by one, in an organized manner. Yet one, completely exhausted, failed to cling to the edge of the spoon and was left floundering in the water. Noticing this, the very last ant in the column went back.

It seemed to me as if I could hear him calling to the drowning one, pleading: “Hold on, brother, I won’t leave you!” Seeing that he couldn’t reach from the edge of the spoon, the ant began to descend into the water, but I couldn’t bear to watch this heart-wrenching scene any longer and moved the spoon closer. Then he easily reached his comrade and pulled him out. Thus, this floating living pyramid survived thanks to mutual help.

The whole process of observation stirred a storm of changing emotions in me. At first there was condemnation, when I thought the ants were drowning each other. Then surprise, when I realized they had survived such a long time in water. And finally, admiration, when I saw their clearly coordinated system of mutual aid and self-rescue. Every insect knew exactly what it needed to do. By their behavior they made me feel ashamed, and of course, I regretted not helping them from the very beginning.

The last feeling I experienced was deep regret. Thoughts about human indifference, discord, hostility, and so on poured through my mind without end. I wanted to cry out to the whole world: “People! If you don’t know how to live, at least learn from the ants. Are we really worse and more foolish than insects?! There is no use in human prayers if they are not supported by deeds. Let us be like the ants… remember, strength lies in

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