The Myth of the Ant Queen

Often times it appears that there are no patterns to life, but this is an incorrect assumption. For many aspects of life, there seems to be organization, but where does this come from? In both ant colonies and human life, there are many similarities, but how does this occur? How do ants know to build colonies, and why do humans build cities? Obviously in both of these complicated areas, there is organization.
In ant colonies there are many roles that each ant plays. However since ants are not the most intelligent creatures, how do these ants come to realize that they have a specific task? It appears that these insignificant beings magically seem to organize themselves. The organization of the colony has an already designated place where the dead ant carcasses are kept, and there is also a place for the colonies’ waste. The ants also make sure to keep the trash separate from the dead. Not only are these ant characteristics, but these characteristics are actually very similar to those of the human race. Humans also have a specific way of organizing themselves which includes the building of cities or towns, and this is similar to the ant colonies. There are also graveyards and landfills similar to those of the ants. However, there is still the question of how these systems of organization come about, and this can be answered by a couple similarities that they both possess.
What do the ants have in common with humans? Both ants and humans are able to communicate which allows for understanding amongst them. This means that what we think appears to be “magical” organization actually comes about through communication. Not only is communication important for everyday life, but the ones who are “pacemakers” also have an important role in organization. These pacemakers set examples in both the ant and human societies because they create models to follow along with. For example, a worker ant may learn what his job is about by following another worker ant, and a human may learn how to fit in with the latest fashion by observing those around. For both of these cultures, there are similarities in organization, and these similarities are communication and having pacemakers.
What do both human societies and ant colonies have to teach us? Both of them show that out of what appears to be chaos, there is actually organization. Some of this organization is that each ant in a colony knows its specific role, and humans also have a similar have quality as well. Both creatures also build, and this requires organization. In both cases of the ants and humans, it sometimes seems impossible that there could possibly be any system of organization throughout all of the chaos, but with the use of communication and pacemakers, trends of organization seem to appear as a result.

The Library of Babel

In the short story “The Library of Babel”, there were numerous similarities could be made throughout the text. The universe was compared to that of a library. In the story men were the librarians of the infinite hexagonal library, and their goal was to find the key to the library, or in other words “universe”. The story mainly was a comparison of the Tower of Babel which many us accept today.
The story talked about men not understanding the library around them because it was in a language that they did not know, so the decoding book was being highly sought after. This concept could be compared to the human life form constantly wanting to know what life is all about. There was a reference in the story about God which was “Man, the imperfect librarian, may be the work of chance or of malevolent demiurges; the universe, with its elegant appointments---its bookshelves, its enigmatic books, its indefatigable staircases for the traveler, and its water closets for the seated librarian---can only be the handiwork of a god.” This reference may have meant that the decoding book being sought after may be the same as what we call God.
One main religious reference made in the story is the title. The Library of Babel can be compared to that of the Tower of Babel which is in the book of Genesis. In the story about the Tower of Babel, mankind wanted to become closer to God by building a tower that would reach into Heaven. However, God did not let man build the tower, and to stop them from building the tower he confused their languages. Since man no longer understood each other, this caused all of mankind to spread across the world. This could be compared to the library having a vast expanse, large tower, and man wanting to know about the library through the decoding book, or in other words God. However, the library was not very useful because the language was not known like in the story of the Tower of Babel.
Both of these stories may still be applied to life today because we being curious humans still strive to want to know everything. Knowing everything includes how the universe and its contents were made. In both stories men both wanted to know more, as in “The Library of Babel”, men wanted to know more about the infinite library, and men nowadays desire to discover how exactly their existence came about. Why are these two points in the stories important? They are important because we as mankind feel that we will be far superior knowing more than others, and it will give us a higher status like being the best librarian or being more God-like. Seeking the most knowledge was a common theme in both stories, and modern humans are still striving to have more than everyone else now.

Tower of Babel:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel

The Power of Context

The environment that a creature is surrounded by affects its behavioral attitudes, and this includes humans and animals. When an animal is forced into a new climate, a natural instinct arises causing the animal to change. As mentioned in the essay, the subway was one example of how the difference in appearance changed the behavior of people passing through. When the subway was covered in graffiti, the crime rate was high, but when things were cleaned up, the crime rate went down. This occurrence implies that surroundings affect the living beings that live in them.

The common person changes how they are because they want to fit into a crowd or survive a specific situation, and the only way to do that is to match the surrounding. Fitting into a crowd may mean changing personalities completely. For example, a smart nerdy kid may want to hang with the punk kids, but unfortunately there is a behavioral and outward appearance difference. The nerdy kid may have to trade in his pocket protector and good grades for a Mohawk and rebellious attitude. Obviously these two cliques have major differences, so it would be nearly impossible for the two to coexist without drastic changes. As a human, the way we act and look gives a brief look at who we are, so in order to give the wanted perception, a certain characteristic or trait may be taken on.

Animals are also frequently forced to change their characteristics also. This may mean for an animal that it changes its food source since it has more competition with another species, or even breeding for the best traits. The British Peppered Moth is one example of an animal adapting to its surroundings since these moths have different colors depending on where they live. When the moths were living in more polluted areas, they were black because the trees around them were more soot colored. Moths rest with their wings open, so when the moths were more of a gray color, they were an easier target for predators. Another example of animal adaptation is the Galapagos Finches. The finches on the Galapagos Islands bred so that the best suited traits were more prevalent, and from this new species of finches were created. The different types of finches adapted to different food types to lessen competition, and the bills of the birds changed as a result of this. Even in the animal world changes are made, but unlike humans these changes are made that future generations may survive.

Behaviors are not always natural to a living thing. The environment influences the actions and habits of all animals causing them to make changes on a daily basis. Humans, birds, and even moths even make these subconscious changes. Life is all about fitting in, whether it means for survival, or even just getting into the “In” crowd. Whether a person is aware of it or not, they make decisions every day about their behavior and appearance, and this is because they as an animal want to survive.

Galapagos Finches:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin

Peppered Moth:
http://http//www.ucl.ac.uk/taxome/jim/pap/malletgensoc03.pdf