Saturday, February 25, 2017

Are Bumblebees Smarter Than Democrats?

For news of the weird fans, here's an oddball headline about what small brains can do that has political overtones for large-brained animals: Are Bumblebees Smarter Than Democrats?

Observable history tells us that Hillary Clinton lost the presidential race last year because tens of thousands of Democrats, especially in three key states—Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania—turned out to vote but decided not to vote for the Democratic nominee for president.

Had they voted for Mrs. Clinton when they were at the polls voting for other offices, she would be president now, not Republican-in-name-only Donald John Trump, who upended all former traditional notions of political science.

So it begs the question, if so-called Democrats didn't know enough to vote for their party's nominee last year, especially in light of who Donald Trump showed himself to be from 2015 until Election Day, why should they be expected to vote for any Democratic nominee for any office, great or small, in any future election?

Buzz This

Meanwhile, in bumblebee world, an insect with a very tiny brain has learned how to push a ball to the center of a platform in order to retrieve a sugary treat, the New York Times reports. Bumblebees can do what Democrats seem unable to do to retrieve their sugary treat. We are told, based on this experiment, that scientists better understand the complex workings of insect brains.

As the NYT notes, "The new research finding is one more reason that scientists who study insects, of all sorts, would like to point out that just because a brain is small, doesn’t mean it is simple."

For whomever becomes the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee on Saturday, February, 25, with expectations of herding Democrats and those who identify with Democratic principles and values to vote for their candidate when they have a chance, if bumblebees are more trainable than Democratic base voters, the future of the Democrat beehive won't be full of sugary treats like winning Congress or the White House.

Will news about intelligence in bee world create a buzz about what big-brained mammals can do in people world?
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