I am the rise of an empire of ants

Chapter 20 Teaching Ants to Do Arithmetic
The leaders around the queen ants collided with each other and exchanged their views.Is this guy crazy? The Queen Ant obviously wanted to give him a way out, but he refused to admit his mistake here. Could it be that he really didn't want to live anymore?
The queen ant's face became ugly, she suppressed her anger and asked Huang Huang: "What's your opinion, tell me!"

"I'm teaching them knowledge, is there something wrong?" Huang Huang replied eloquently.

"Knowledge?" The queen ant repeated these two words, which was another new term, and she had never heard of it before.She looked at Huang Huang and asked, "What is knowledge?"

Huang Huang felt a little broken, why is this kind of problem again?What he was most afraid of was explaining this to them.He racked his brains and explained to the queen: "Knowledge is a kind of skill, a kind of your understanding of unknown things, it is a burst of power, it can make you stand on the shoulders of giants, stand taller, see further..."

When he said this, he glanced at the queen ants and them with a guilty conscience. When he saw the question marks on the faces of the queen ants and the leaders, his heart suddenly became cold, and he knew that there was no need to say any more.He turned around and picked up a half-dry mahjong tile from the ground, turned around and asked, "What's on this?"

"Two", just casually replied.The "two cakes" on the mahjong tiles are exactly the same as the two on the dice, and it can answer it at a glance.

The queen ant looked at the mahjong tile in Huang Huang's hand in amazement. There were only two circles drawn on it. Why did she say "two" just now?

"This is called text, which is a kind of knowledge. It uses graphics to represent certain meanings. The meaning represented by such graphics must be recognized by everyone. When you see this kind of graphics, you will know the meaning it expresses immediately!"

After finishing speaking, Huang Huang picked up another mahjong tile and asked the ants present, "Can you recognize the words on it?"

"Three", everyone replied in unison.After rolling the dice for so long, everyone is very familiar with this pattern.

The queen ant was shocked.Using graphics to express meaning She often played with it when she was young. She sometimes drew a small ant on the ground to represent the worker ant that took care of her every day. Sometimes she drew a big ant, which was outside the nursery all day long. The patrolling soldier ants sometimes draw an ant with an amiable face, which is her queen mother who occasionally visits them in the nursery.But these graphics have always been only able to understand the meaning inside, and no one else can understand.She never thought of standardizing these graphics so that other people could understand the meaning of these graphics.This little ant is simply too clever to think of this.

"But what does it mean for us to know these graphics?" Commander Quanquan was obviously also very interested in this kind of graphics called "text", and stepped forward to ask.

"Of course it makes sense!" Huang Huang answered it seriously. "For example, if you find a dying fly crawling in front of you while foraging for food, you can draw a picture on the ground to tell other ants that there is a dying fly in front of you. I'm coming!"

Huang Huang wanted to find some things as close as possible to the life of ants to give them examples, so that the persuasion would be greater.

"But I can completely tell them by smell, why do I have to draw figures on the ground?" Commander Quanquan continued to ask.

Huang Huang was stunned by this question from Commander Quan Quan, he forgot that ants can transmit information through smell.He thought for a while, and explained to Commander Quanquan: "The smell you emit can only tell them that there is food ahead and ask them to come quickly. But you can't tell what is in front of you, how big it is, and what it is. What state you are in now, and these can be expressed in words. Through your message, other ants will clearly know what is ahead, and it is enough to send a few people!"

Commander Quan Quan nodded and said nothing more.There are indeed many imperfections in conveying information through smell.For example, when an ant sends out a signal that there is food, many ants who smell the smell will run over, only to find out that other ants are already helping, and they ran for nothing.If the size and weight of food and the number of people asking for help can be informed through text messages to the ants running past, it will save a lot of unnecessary consumption.

Huang Huang continued to say to the Queen Ant and the leaders: "Words have many uses. They can not only express ideas, but also record things. For example, if you use words to find a place to record what happened today, it will be three years later. If you read those words again in five years, you will not forget the matter!"

"Is there really such a benefit?" Commander Zizi became interested when he heard it. It is specialized in managing the internal affairs of the ant nest. It has a lot of things to deal with every day. If there is really such a thing for it to recall, it will be good for it. It's been a really good help.

Huang Huang nodded affirmatively. Just as he was about to speak to Commander Zizi, his words were snatched away by Commander Tong Tong.Commander Tongtong sneered and said, "Don't make such a fuss here, what they did just now has nothing to do with what you said. Knowledge, writing, bullshit, they are all excuses for your sophistry! "

Commander Tongtong has always had a bad impression of Huang Huang, the little ant. Yesterday, it was because of him that he started, which caused confusion among the ants in the training ground, and made Commander Quanquan unable to step down in front of everyone. Now he is here again Talk nonsense, what is teaching other ants to read, shit!When I came by myself, I clearly saw two ants fighting for food, and this little ant was obviously talking nonsense here.

Huang Huang smiled and looked at the leader Tongtong with a calm demeanor.There was no trace of nervousness on his face, as if what Tong Tong said just now had nothing to do with him.

He grinned, and suddenly opened his mouth and asked Tongtong Commander softly: "If there were two peanuts in the warehouse, and then three peanuts were put in, how many peanuts are there in the warehouse now?"

Commander Tongtong was stunned. It couldn't answer this question, and neither could most of the ants in the ant nest. They all calculate numbers based on real objects, and there is no concept of abstract thinking in their heads. .In other words, let them count the peanuts in the warehouse one by one, they can count them, but let them imagine in their heads, they can't do anything.

The leader of Tongtong became angry: "I asked you why you just got into a fight with Yeye workers just now, but what kind of peanuts are you and me? Is there any connection between these two things? You are clearly diverting our attention!"

Huang Huang responded to it immediately: "Of course there is a connection, otherwise why would I ask?"

After finishing speaking, he turned around and asked Ye Yechang, who was standing beside him, "Can you tell me how many there are?"

Yeye, the worker looked timidly at the leader, hesitated for a moment and replied, "Five."

The queen ant and several commanders around her were shocked. Even they didn't know about this kind of problem. How could this little worker ant who was delivering meals in the training ground know?

The queen ant turned her head to look at Commander Zizi, and asked it gently: "Is its answer correct?"

Commander Zizi is in charge of internal affairs, and the warehouse is also part of its management. It has more or less contact with the number problem. It thought for a long time before answering to the queen: "Yes, it is indeed five!"

The queen ant felt a little unbelievable, she looked at Yeye Field Worker, and asked it half-believingly, "How do you know there are five?"

Yes, the worker replied tremblingly: "Huang Huang told me that if someone asks a similar question, he should think about the dots on the dice. How many dots are there on the dice, and the sum of the dots will be the correct answer."

This sentence was indeed what Huang Huang told them just now. When he saw the commander of Tongtong walking out angrily, he guessed that something bad might happen later, so he made preparations in advance.He taught them to lie together, saying that he was teaching them mathematics with dice, and the ants agreed with one voice.

Huang Huang took the time to explain the main points of addition, telling them that if two numbers are added, they should think about the number of points on the dice, and how many points there are on the two dice, the answer to the question is the number.This method is like human children who like to count their fingers when doing arithmetic problems. There will be a more intuitive impression in their minds, but this finger is not counted on their hands, but counted in their minds.

After playing dice all morning, they still remembered the points on the dice very clearly. From complicated to simple, these ants quickly mastered the addition and subtraction of numbers.

The queen ant took the dice in her hand and compared them. There were two dots on one side and three dots on the other side. When the two dice were put together, there were indeed five black dots.

She still didn't believe Huang Huang's words. She didn't know why, when she saw Huang Huang's eyes that were rolling around, she always felt a little uneasy in her heart. Could it be that he had told the field worker the answer beforehand, And then join forces to deceive them?

She turned around and asked just now: "Let me ask you another question. There are six peanuts in the warehouse, and six more peanuts. How many peanuts are there?"

He just raised his head and thought for a moment before replying, "Twelve!"

This really surprised the Queen Ant. The number reported just now is exactly the same as the number she counted on her hand. The title was given by herself. Now she can no longer suspect that Huang Huang's words are false.

She turned her head to look at Commander Tongtong, and then asked suspiciously: "Since Huang Huang is teaching you knowledge, why did you and Yeye Field workers fight, and why did you tell Commander Tongtong that you thought of this idea?" where?"

Just now hesitating and just about to answer, Huang Huang snatched the words aside and answered: "That's right, I'm teaching them three addition and subtraction. In order to promote their learning progress, I stipulate that whoever answers incorrectly will be punished." Meals are given to the person who answered correctly. Yeyechang worker got the answer right. When it was his turn just now, the dice in his hand broke, and Yeyechang worker thought it couldn’t answer. The broken dice was intentional, and the two argued. Get up. At this time, the leader of Tongtong happened to see it, and just because I was punished yesterday, he took the blame for me and said that it remembered this matter, and it didn't want to implicate me!"

What Huang Huang said was well-founded and well-founded, and the queen ant and the few commanders behind her couldn't help but nod and believe it.

Commander Zizi asked Huang Huang with great interest: "What is three addition and subtraction, can you explain it to me?" It has always been very interested in the "knowledge" Huang Huang said, and felt that Things are of great use for managing ant nests yourself.

Huang Huang frowned, shit, here we go again!In order to avoid explaining the word "mathematics" just now, he has deliberately avoided the word.Now that Commander Zizi asked about this again, he had to find a way to explain it.

He thought for a while, and said to Commander Zizi: "Three additions and subtractions are the sum of three numbers. For example, if you hold four grains of sand in your hand, Commander Quanquan holds five grains of sand in your hand, and Commander Quanquan holds five grains of sand in your hand. There are six grains of sand in your hand, how many grains of sand do you three have in total?"

Commander Zizi was also taken aback by this question. He was not very familiar with the addition of two terms, let alone three terms.It couldn't help but asked Huang Huangdao: "How many grains are there?" To be honest, it really couldn't think of an answer.

Huang Huang smiled and pointed at just now, and said to Commander Zizi: "I taught it this, it must know the answer!"

Everyone's eyes turned to just now, such a complicated question, can a soldier ant who has been injured and lying in the training ground for three years be able to answer it?I just can't believe it!
Just now it smiled triumphantly, and it opened its mouth and reported the answer: "This is simple, four five six! Isn't it 'Leopard'?"

(End of this chapter)