Few possess egos that match up to that of the infamous Kanye West. A study by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  revealed that insects may process the world similarly to us. Jason Daley at Smithsonanian.com reports on how insects are rather egocentric creatures.

Insects have “phenomenal consciousness” or the ability to “sense the environment from a first person perspective.” This does not entail intense emotions such as the desire to be the speediest bee in a hive, but rather the emotions associated with hunger that drive humans to seek food influence insects as well.

Furthermore, insects are selective on the sensory information they receive from the environment and only selective process what applies to them the most. Evidence of this ego centrism lies in the fact that the central nervous system and brain of insects function similarly to the mid-brain in vertebrates which is “responsible for the basic capacity for subjective experience.” In other words, the mid-brain is the area of the brain attributed to consciousness.

Although, a profuse amount of natural selection to have the egos of insects to transcend Kanye’s, the fact that insects possess egos may help with research in drones. Further analysis on the insect consciousness could assist with programming artificial intelligence to basic decisions.

Daley, J. (n.d.). Do Insects Have Consciousness and Ego? Retrieved October 17, 2016, from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/do-insects-have-consciousness-ego-180958824/?no-ist

Media:

Rindoff, & Dufour. (2016, October 6). [Kanye West and Taylor Swift]. Retrieved October 17, 2016, from http://people.com/music/kanye-west-famous-demo-taylor-swift-sex/

Vincek, D. (n.d.). Dive Deeper [Honeybee with white background]. Retrieved October 17, 2016, from http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/honeybee/#honeybee-whitebackground.jpg