022 Hold the Line
Hey Dung Beetle, you roll a ball many times your own weight and keep it moving in a straight line, away from the crowd.
Do we hold our direction when the load is heavy?
Do you hold your direction when the load is heavy?
Under the hot sun, a small beetle stands on its front legs and pushes a ball of dung with its back legs. The ball is far bigger than the beetle.
It does not wander. It rolls the ball in a straight line, away from the pile.
What really happens
Some dung beetles shape dung into a ball and roll it away from the crowd at the pile, where other beetles might steal it.
They roll in a straight line, which is the fastest way to get away. Some kinds use the sun and other light in the sky to keep their course.
How we know: Dung beetle navigation has been studied in detail by scientists in South Africa and Sweden.
The turn
When the load gets heavy, we start to wander. We change direction, give up halfway, or circle back to the crowd.
The beetle shows another way: fix a direction and keep rolling.
Three takeaways
- A heavy load is easier in a straight line.
- Moving away from the crowd can protect what you are building.
- Direction matters more than speed.
Heavy is fine. Lost is not.
When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind.