An Ostrich is Not a Sitting Duck

Ostriches don’t exactly have a reputation for their intelligence, but what you see is not all there is[i]. There’s a pervasive myth that ostriches bury their heads in the sand as a form of defense[ii] but beneath the surface they’re planning. Even with a brain smaller than its eyes[iii] an ostrich is smart enough to know ignoring a problem won’t eliminate it.

“However, from time to time you might find an ostrich looking as if it has its head in the sand, but not because it’s scared. Ostriches dig shallow holes in the sand to serve as nests for their eggs. The ostrich will use its beak several times a day to turn the eggs in the nest, creating the illusion of burying its head in the sand[iv].”

It's not their heads that they bury in the sand to ignore threats, it’s their eggs that they bury to protect their future. To an outsider, it appears that ostriches are so stupid that their strategy is to avoid seeing threats, rather than protecting themselves from them. It’s easy to forget that “wealth is what you don’t see.[v]”Appearances can be deceiving, and humans make assumptions that can be wrong. I can promise you that ostriches don’t care if we think they’re stupid, they evolved to pass on their genes. They care about survival and protecting their young. 

When it comes to protecting our own nest eggs, we might be able to learn a thing or two from ostriches. It may not require as much an intelligence as you think to protect your nest egg, and it doesn’t matter what other people think. Burying your head in the sand may be stupid but keeping your head down and protecting your nest egg isn’t. 

Image created using OpenAI's DALL·E 3.