Inter-brain correlation as a foundation for the mind of the superorganism

The hypothesis that an ant colony may exhibit some level of phenomenal consciousness encompasses four distinct answers, depending on how the parts interact in the constitution of the superorganism (Fonseca, 2023). However, for a given answer to be satisfactory to the Combination Problem, the chemical information transmitted by ants would have to be structured in such a way as to communicate intentional states, and, consequently, following exposure to external sensory stimuli or contact via antennae (semiochemical exchange), interindividual neural synchronization (among brains) could occur, thereby grounding collectively coordinated behavior. Accordingly, I defend the view that the chemical signals dispersed by ants carry mental content, and that semiochemical exchange produces interbrain synchronization, thus constituting a collective consciousness. I conclude that, if there is sufficiently strong synchronization among brains, following the sharing of intentional states, an ant colony may possess a unified mind with a spatially distributed body.