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Even Ants Need Friends

Genesis 2:18 says "It is not good for man to be alone." Scientists have been researching this principle in humans and in animals for generations across various disciplines, noting the impacts of community and isolation on all kinds of God's creatures. Most recently, research has been done with a specific species of carpenter ants. Ants removed from the colony, though they were provided with food and water, had a life span that was one-tenth of the other ants left in the group.

While humans are physically more resilient than that, we were also made for community. While science continues to try and provide clear evidence of this hypothesis research suggests that "Perhaps all lonely creatures are like the solitary carpenter ant: heartburned and seeking home."

Source:

Emily Anthes, “Marching One by One,” The New Yorker (3-3-15)

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