Analysis of ‘The Myth of the Ant Queen’ and ‘The Mind’s Eye’

Since most of these decisions are deciding factors for the behavior of individuals, the principle of pacemaker has always been an important factor in determining the choices taken by persons or processes. It is widely held that the willingness of individuals to obey particular directives or sets of laws in order to accomplish the necessary objectives determines societal success. The effectiveness of systems has always been dependent on the existence of a pacemaker who provides a direction on the procedures to be followed during the implementation of particular procedures or processes. The story ‘The Myth of the Queen’ presents a deviation from the concept of ‘pacemaker’ due to a state of lack of authority among the ants in relation to the tasks they need to perform or the rules they need to follow but this does not prevent them from performing their duties. It also presents cases of successes in the development of Manchester to a big city despite lack of existence of common rules, regulations or requirements for people to work in a particular way. They are always involved in making individual decisions which focus on building the anthill and eventually achieve a better outcome for their well-being. In the story, ‘The Mind’s Eye’ by Oliver Sacks, the author explains that one does not necessarily need to possess a pacemaker quality such as vision to achieve a particular ambition or professional qualification provided one has the personal instincts and vision to achieve them. He represents this argument by illustrating cases of a number of people who underwent visual impairment during their childhood but managed to achieve major accomplishments in their lives by becoming authors or doctors. This paper explains the argument of irrelevance of the concept of ‘pacemaker’ in the achievement of a particular goal by clarifying Sack’s argument about blindness that one does not need to possess sight in order to achieve his or her goals. Lack of central form of authority The inexistence of a central authority in the story ‘The Myth of the Queen’ by Steven Johnson shows the irrelevance of the idea of a pacemaker in the achievement of a particular outcome on the society. Johnson presents a case where the queen is the leader of a group of ants which create an anthill but does not necessarily need to exercise her authority to enable activities to take place. She assumes her position but the worker ants perform the tasks of building the ant hill in their own sections which contribute to the achievement of the desired feature of their colony. “She lays eggs and is fed and cared for by the workers. She does not decide which worker does what” (Johnson p.194). The roles of the harvester ants are performed without directions from the queen but they still manage to perform their roles effectively. This supports the argument presented by Oliver Sacks that one does not necessarily need to possess visual capability such as eyes in order to succeed in personal goals and ambition. One simply needs to possess the determination, confidence on one’s capabilities, and resilience to achieve a particular professional objective. This is illustrated by the case of John Hull who was less likely to excel in publishing books because he had cataract at the age of thirteen which prevented him from seeing until he was thirty five years. As a result of this condition, he was not able to recognize his family members such as his wife and managed to see with the help of a magnifying glass. “The sense of objects having appearances, or visible characteristics, vanished. He could no longer imagine how the numeral 3 looked unless he traced it in the air with his finger” (Sacks p.229). This illustrates the impact of his inability to see on a number of his body functional characteristics. Nevertheless, Sacks explains that Hull managed to overcome the need to rely on his eyes as the ‘pacemakers’ for his professional ambition by achieving higher educational qualification of becoming a professor and publishing a number of books that were read by those who had the ability to see. He published an essay when he was blind and wrote a manuscript for the article ‘Out of Darkness’ that described the events which took place during the World War II, a situation that surprised many people. This supports the view that a pacemaker is not a major requirement in a person’s or a society’s role in the performance of a task to achieve a particular goal. This case supports the perspective that when one possesses an inner instinct and personal vision to achieve an outcome, the perception of the need for a set of rules, regulations, and directions of actions are not necessary. Instinctive and Visionary performance of tasks at Individual level The ants work in an instinctive manner by performing tasks within their capabilities because it is within their gene. For instance, they carry the queen to different places, feed her and construct a more stable and protected section of the anthill so that their organization is protected. They do not follow particular rules because they believe it is for their benefit. The act of serving the queen is their duty and they do not need to be guided by certain rules and procedures. This is a form of gratitude to the queen for her role in giving birth to them. It is a demonstration that the queen has interest on their well-being, therefore they have the responsibility to protect her without relying on her providing directions, commands, or regulations which need to be observed. This is illustrated by the quote, “Their genes instruct them to protect their mother, the same way their genes instruct them to forage for food” (Johnson p.194). It is evident that if the colony was to rely on the queen to provide them with direction, it would be almost impossible to stay together since they will not be accessible. This shows that the concept of ‘pacemaker’ in leadership is sometimes irrelevant and people have to act on their own to achieve certain goals that will be beneficial to all. This incident supports the observation by Oliver Sacks who found that many people did not rely on their senses such as the sense of sight to achieve their professional objectives. An example of such a person in the story ‘The Mind’s Eye’ is Dennis Shulman who achieved professional qualification in clinical psychology despite being blind since his teen age. While the loss of sight could be a major contributor to his inability to pursue higher education, he was determined and used his senses to undergo a health professional training successfully. He has been able to relate with his wife and children by the use of his senses. This case study illustrates that in the current world, there are many opportunities for people to pursue their dreams, goals, or objectives without relying on a particular leadership, motivation, or rules and regulations. This is illustrated by the quote, “I still live in the visual world after thirty-five years of blindness. I have very vivid visual memories and images” (Sacks p. 336). This shows that Shulman believed that the idea of believing that he could achieve something only if he had the ability to see was not true and he needed to rely on his vision and focus on achieving his professional objectives. This resulted into his achievement in clinical psychology which provided him with the opportunity to provide for his family in particular and the society in general. In a similar manner, the instinctive approach of performance of individual tasks by the ants was not only beneficial to them but the entire colony because of their role in promoting the protection of the queen and ensuring their safety needs are addressed without the need to rely on a pacemaker such as an observer or a supervisor. The impact of discontinuity such as the case of Manchester The town of Manchester is one of the cities which have undergone development without any significant set of rules or leadership that state how people should act or the contribution they need to make. In the story ‘The Myth of the Ant Queen” by Steve Johnson, the industrial takeoff that took place in Manchester in 1700s cannot be attributed to any leader or pacemaker as the contributor to the city’s development and impact on the global economy. The people simply undertook the responsibility to act individually with the focus on addressing the needs of the city. It was found that the growth rate of Manchester was too fast that the authority could not keep up with it. On the contrary, it did not have representatives in parliament until 1832, and it was not considered as a city until 1835. Furthermore, it had been considered as a ‘manor’ by the government of England which implies that it was like a feudal state without formal policies, the police, or public health leadership. This is illustrated by the quote, “Manchester attracted a steady stream of intellectuals and public figures in the 1830s, travelling north to the industrial magnet in search of the modern world’s future” (Johnson p. 196). This clarifies the perspective of Oliver Sacks in relation to the need for a pacemaker when he describes Arlene Gordon who was blind but was determined to contribute to social work using her senses. She was able to understand her environment by listening to talking stories. This is illustrated by the quote, “Arlene Gordon, a former social worker in her seventies, told me that things were very similar for her” (Sacks p. 336). There is a similarity in the arguments of Steve Johnson and Oliver Sacks in these cases because they emphasize that one does not need to depend on a pacemaker to achieve success in a particular activity provided the right attitude and vision is developed. Conclusion The concept of a pacemaker has been opposed by the two articles ‘The Myth of the Queen’ by Steve Johnson and ‘The Mind’s Eye’ by Oliver Sacks. The two stories are supportive that a society or an individual does not need a pacemaker, a ruler, or a leader to provide direction of performing a task to achieve particular goals or objectives. In the case studies, the ants have been able to achieve a stable economy without relying on the authority of the queen. She only acts as a symbol of unity without forcing the ants to perform tasks. This has resulted into a stable colony that meets the needs of the entire ant population. Similarly, Oliver Sacks presents people who underwent loss of vision but did not rely on it as pacemakers. This enabled them to pursue different professional objectives until they acquired qualification to be useful to the society in general. Works Cited Johnson, Steven. Emergence: The connected lives of ants, brains, cities, and software. Simon and Schuster, 2002. Sacks, Oliver. "The mind’s eye." New Yorker 28 (2003): 48-59.