When we discuss “knowing,” we immediately think of humans with our large brains, forgetting that knowing is present in all species, even those we consider inanimate. Certainly, bees, spiders, and wasps, are highly skilled – they build beautiful structures. Looking at a bee hive, a wasp’s nest, or a spider’s web, we admit their know-how, but we say, “These species do not know how to think. They cannot do mathematics. They cannot plan and design projects. They don’t have intelligence. All they have is instinct.” Still, it was not we humans who gave them nests and webs, it was the little “brainless” creatures themselves who designed and built those marvelous architectures that we so admire. If they do not know, who does? They know. Their species in its evolution has acquired this knowledge.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Bright Pink in High Desert Image Seamus Berkeley