![© 2019 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by
any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or
information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the
publisher.
This book was set in Stone Serif and Stone Sans by Jen Jackowitz. Printed and
bound in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: MIT Sloan Management Review, issuer.
Title: Why humans matter more than ever / MIT Sloan Management Review.
Description: Cambridge, MA : MIT Press, [2019] | Series: The digital future
of management | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018059568 | ISBN 9780262537575 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Human-machine systems. | Human-computer interaction. |
Technology.
Classification: LCC TA167 .W49 2019 | DDC 620.8/2--dc23 LC record avail-
able at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018059568
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/95533-250430175000-0c96af72/85/Why-Humans-Matter-More-Than-Ever-Mit-Sloan-Management-Review-8-320.jpg)
![incipient colonies,[11] in which were only a few workers engaged
with their mother in the care of a small number of larvæ; and M.
Perrot, his friend, once discovered a small nest, occupied by a
solitary female, who was attending upon four pupa only. Such is the
foundation and first establishment of those populous nations of ants
with which we every where meet.
But though the majority of females produced in a nest probably thus
desert it, all are not allowed this liberty. The prudent workers are
taught by their instinct, that the existence of their community
depends upon the presence of a sufficient number of females. Some,
therefore, that are fecundated in or near the spot, they forcibly
detain, pulling off their wings, and keeping them prisoners till they
are ready to lay their eggs, or are reconciled to their fate. De Geer,
in a nest of F. rufa, observed that the workers compelled some
females that were come out of the nest to re-enter it; (vol. ii. 1071,)
—and from M. P. Huber we learn, that, being seized at the moment
of fecundation, they are conducted into the interior of the formicary,
when they become entirely dependent upon the neuters, who,
hanging pertinaciously to each leg, prevent their going out, but at
the same time attend upon them with the greatest care, feeding
them regularly, and conducting them where the temperature is
suitable to them, but never quitting them a single moment. By
degrees these females become reconciled to their condition, and
lose all desire of making their escape; their abdomen enlarges, and
they are no longer detained as prisoners, yet each is still attended
by a body-guard, a single ant, which always accompanies her, and
prevents her wants. Its station is remarkable, being mounted upon
her abdomen, with its posterior legs upon the ground. These
sentinels are constantly relieved; and to watch the moment when
the female begins the important work of oviposition, and carry off
the eggs, of which she lays four or five thousand or more in the
course of the year, seems to be their principal office.
When the female is acknowledged as a mother, the workers begin to
pay her a homage very similar to that which the bees render to their](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/95533-250430175000-0c96af72/85/Why-Humans-Matter-More-Than-Ever-Mit-Sloan-Management-Review-41-320.jpg)
![troublesome, he will be compelled to carry about with him to the day
of his death. Their abdomen is also furnished with a poison-bag,
(ioterium,) in which is secreted a powerful and venomous fluid, long
celebrated in chemical researches, and once called formic acid,
though now considered a modification of the acetic and malic;[12]
which, when their enemy is beyond the reach of their mandibles, (it
is spoken here particularly of the hill ant, or F. rufa,) standing erect
on their hind legs, they discharge from their anus with considerable
force, so that from the surface of the nest ascends a shower of
poison, exhaling a strong sulphurous odour, sufficient to overpower
or repel any insect or small animal. Such is the fury of some species,
that with the acid, according to Gould, p. 34. they sometimes partly
eject the poison-bag itself. If a stick be stuck into one of the nests of
the hill ant, it is so saturated with the acid as to retain the scent for
many hours. A more formidable weapon arms the species of the
genus Myrmica latr.; for, besides the poison-bag, they are furnished
with a sting; and their aspect is also often rendered peculiarly
revolting, by the extraordinary length of their jaws, and by the
spines which defend their head and trunk.
But weapons without valour are of but little use; and this is one
distinguishing feature of this pigmy race. Their courage and
pertinacity are unconquerable, and are often sublimed into the most
inconceivable rage and fury. It makes no difference to them whether
they attack a mite or an elephant; and man himself instils no terror
into their warlike breasts. Point your finger towards any individual of
F. rufa; instead of running away, it instantly faces about, and, that it
may make the most of itself, stiffening its legs into a nearly straight
line, it gives its body the utmost elevation it is capable of; and thus
—
“Collecting all its might, dilated stands,”
prepared to repel your attack. Put your finger a little nearer, it
immediately opens its jaws to bite you, and rearing upon its hind
legs, bends its abdomen between them, to eject its venom into the
wound.[13]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/95533-250430175000-0c96af72/85/Why-Humans-Matter-More-Than-Ever-Mit-Sloan-Management-Review-49-320.jpg)
![This angry people, so well armed and so courageous, we may readily
imagine, are not always at peace with their neighbours; causes of
dissension may arise, to light the flame of war between the
inhabitants of nests not far distant from each other. To these little
bustling creatures, a square foot of earth is a territory worth
contending for; their droves of aphides being equally valuable with
the flocks and herds that cover our plains; and the body of a fly or a
beetle, or a cargo of straws and bits of stick, an acquisition as
important as the treasures of a Lima fleet to our seamen. Their wars
are usually between nests of different species; sometimes, however,
those of the same, when so near as to interfere with and
incommode each other, have their battles; and with respect to ants
of one species, Myrmica rubra, combats occasionally take place,
contrary to the general habits of the tribe of ants, between those of
the same nest.
The wars of the red ant (M. rubra) are usually between a small
number of the citizens; and the object, according to Gould, is to get
rid of a useless member of the community, (it does not argue much
in favour of their humanity, that it is all one if it be by sickness that
this member is disabled,) rather than any real civil contest. The red
colonies, (says this author,) are the only ones I could ever observe to
feed upon their own species. You may frequently discern a party of
from five or six to twenty, surrounding one of their own kind, or
even fraternity, and pulling it to pieces. The ant they attack is
generally feeble, and of a languid complexion, occasioned perhaps
by some accident or other.—Gould, 104.
“I once saw one of these ants dragged out of the nest by another,
without its head; it was still alive, and could crawl about. A lively
imagination might have fancied that this poor ant was a criminal,
condemned by a court of justice to suffer the extreme sentence of
the law. It was more probably, however, a champion that had been
decapitated in an unequal combat, unless we admit Gould’s idea,
and suppose it to have suffered because it was an unprofitable
member of the community.[14] At another time I found three](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/95533-250430175000-0c96af72/85/Why-Humans-Matter-More-Than-Ever-Mit-Sloan-Management-Review-50-320.jpg)
Why Humans Matter More Than Ever Mit Sloan Management Review
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- 5. Why Humans Matter More Than Ever
- 6. The Digital Future of Management Series from MIT Sloan Management Review Paul Michelman, series editor How to Go Digital: Practical Wisdom to Help Drive Your Organization’s Dig- ital Transformation What the Digital Future Holds: 20 Groundbreaking Essays on How Technology Is Reshaping the Practice of Management When Innovation Moves at Digital Speed: Strategies and Tactics to Provoke, Sustain, and Defend Innovation in Today’s Unsettled Markets Who Wins in a Digital World? Strategies to Make Your Organization Fit for the Future Why Humans Matter More Than Ever
- 7. Why Humans Matter More Than Ever MIT Sloan Management Review The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England
- 8. © 2019 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. This book was set in Stone Serif and Stone Sans by Jen Jackowitz. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: MIT Sloan Management Review, issuer. Title: Why humans matter more than ever / MIT Sloan Management Review. Description: Cambridge, MA : MIT Press, [2019] | Series: The digital future of management | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018059568 | ISBN 9780262537575 (pbk. : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Human-machine systems. | Human-computer interaction. | Technology. Classification: LCC TA167 .W49 2019 | DDC 620.8/2--dc23 LC record avail- able at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018059568 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
- 9. Series Foreword ix Introduction: A Platform Greater Than Facebook xi Paul Michelman I Making Technology Fit for Humans 1 1 Humanizing Tech May Be the New Competitive Advantage 3 Bala Iyer, Kristen Getchell, and Fritz Fleischmann 2 Managing the Distraction– Focus Paradox 9 Carsten Lund Pedersen 3 Want the Best Results from AI? Ask a Human 15 Bhaskar Ghosh, Kishore Durg, Arati Deo, and Mallika Fernandes Contents
- 10. vi Contents II How We Work 21 4 Four Ways Jobs Will Respond to Automation 23 Scott Latham and Beth Humberd 5 How AI Can Amplify Human Competencies 31 Ken Goldberg, interviewed by Frieda Klotz 6 How Human– Computer “Superminds” Are Redefining the Future of Work 37 Thomas W. Malone 7 Face the Future of Work 53 Lynda Gratton 8 How Emotion- Sensing Technology Can Reshape the Workplace 57 Eoin Whelan, Daniel McDuff, Rob Gleasure, and Jan vom Brocke 9 When Communication Should Be Formal 67 Antti Tenhiälä and Fabrizio Salvador III How We Manage 77 10 Improving Communication in Virtual Teams 79 N. Sharon Hill and Kathryn M. Bartol
- 11. Contents vii 11 Get Things Done with Smaller Teams 87 Chris DeBrusk 12 Is HR Missing the Point on Performance Feedback? 95 Sergey Gorbatov and Angela Lane 13 The Leadership Demands of Extreme Teaming 111 Amy Edmondson, interviewed by Frieda Klotz 14 If You Cut Employees Some Slack, Will They Innovate? 121 Yasser Rahrovani, Alain Pinsonneault, and Robert D. Austin 15 Need Motivation at Work? Try Giving Advice 131 Lauren Eskreis- Winkler and Ayelet Fishbach 16 Why People Believe in Their Leaders— or Not 135 Daniel Han Ming Chng, Tae- Yeol Kim, Brad Gilbreath, and Lynne Andersson 17 Building an Ethically Strong Organization 147 Catherine Bailey and Amanda Shantz Contributors 165 Notes 171 Index 183
- 13. Books in the Digital Future of Management series draw from the print and web pages of MIT Sloan Management Review to deliver expert insights and sharply tuned advice on navigating the unprecedented challenges of the digital world. These books are essential reading for executives from the world’s leading source of ideas on how technology is transforming the practice of management. Paul Michelman Editor in chief MIT Sloan Management Review Series Foreword
- 15. At MIT Sloan Management Review, we have published— and will continue to publish— volumes of content extolling the impor- tance of digital transformation, with much of it focusing on the good that new technologies stand to deliver to both business and broader society. I, myself, am a techno- optimist. But there are also times when we need to step back, take stock, and seize just a bit more control over how our world is evolving. Lately, many of us have been suffering a period of particu- lar disquiet. The seemingly endless waves of technological and political disorder have been deeply unnerving, as disruptions in one arena feed turmoil in others. How we choose to live our own lives is at stake as well. We have become public citizens almost by force at the same time that our trust in public institutions has plummeted. Our details are for sale— and we don’t know to whom. We find ourselves looking for answers and action, for some sense of order to be brought to bear. Yet we are not certain from whom we expect this. It’s all gotten very personal. Now, take a breath and consider for a moment whether a vast swath of the world’s population hasn’t been experiencing an extreme version of this lack of agency their whole lives. Introduction: A Platform Greater Than Facebook Paul Michelman
- 16. xii Paul Michelman So let’s agree to do something positive. There is a change nec- essary today that only humans can bring about, one in which we are not the forced reactors to technological advancement and political discord but the architects of our own platform. Most of you reading this have influence. I encourage you to use it within your organizations and your communities. Lobby for sound, sustainable policy that creates broadly felt value. Demand that your companies look around the bend. Plenty of lip service has been paid to the need for leaders to stop man- aging for quarterly results. Let’s choose now to act on that call. Dare to sacrifice a dividend for a development initiative, one that eyes the challenges of the years ahead, not just the weeks. Your shareholders are ready to hear your case. Yes, there’s a platform greater than Facebook, and there are ecosystems greater than Google. And we have not been tend- ing to our biggest platform and most important ecosystems with appropriate care. Let’s get back to taking the long view and embrace the huge challenge of harnessing technology to create a wealthier society, not just wealthier companies and individuals. Now, more than ever, we need to look out for each other. *** In this book, we bring together some of the best research and analysis from MIT SMR on how to move forward into the brave new digital world with nerve, effectiveness, and, most of all, humanity. Making Technology Fit for Humans In the first section, we explore how new technologies, including the most sophisticated types of artificial intelligence, depend on human collaboration if organizations are going to realize their
- 17. Introduction xiii full potential. Companies need to develop rules, principles, and clear ethical guidelines to structure the interactions that their smart objects have with humans. We also need to think about how we regulate ourselves amid the noise of data and tidal waves of information. “Managing the Distraction– Focus Paradox” by Carsten Lund Pedersen makes this point: Those of us who hope to succeed as thinkers, man- agers, and innovators in a world filled with technology distrac- tions must learn how to manage our most valuable personal resource—our attention. How We Work Next, we look at the big picture of how our work lives are being redefined by new technologies. We need to understand the ways that our jobs are evolving— and the factors behind those changes— and we need to embrace the need to adapt and become more collaborative. Leaders must fully seize their central role in preparing their organizations for the coming world of work. They need, as Lynda Gratton argues in “Face the Future of Work,” to be “deeply aware— right now, not down the line— of the transition taking place.” Leaders must actively engage by acknowledging to their teams that work is changing, by taking responsibility for help- ing employees learn new skills, and by role modeling flexibility around alternate ways of work such as job sharing. For many leaders, these will be difficult challenges to face. How We Manage In the final section, we delve into how technology is changing our work lives in the day to day. Virtual teams and collaborations
- 18. xiv Paul Michelman that take place across professions, geographies, and industries are, of course, all made easier by technology. But the skills needed to capture the full value of these multifaceted collabora- tions don’t come naturally to many people. “We don’t always understand one another’s expertise or even one another’s outlook,” Harvard Business School’s Amy Edmond- son notes in “The Leadership Demands of Extreme Teaming.” Empathy and curiosity will take leaders only so far, she main- tains: “Leaders must also have a high level of self- awareness to keep reminding themselves of the things that they are missing.” Each of us thinks that we see is “reality,” when in fact we don’t know everything. *** Edmondson is absolutely right when she says that we can all learn to be curious, empathic, and interested in other people’s perspectives, but she’s also right when she says that this kind of humility is not a given. Ironically, as we move forward to man- age ever more complicated systems and situations, we may find that it pays to acknowledge the need to learn as we go. Saying “I don’t have the answer” may not come easily, but it may be the best way to get to a place where you do.
- 19. Making Technology Fit for Humans I
- 21. At Google’s annual developer conference, Google I/O 2018, the company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, proudly demonstrated Google Duplex, a new artificial intelligence voice technology, making a remarkably human- sounding reservation over the phone. The problem was that the actual human on the other line did not know she was interacting with a bot. Only after Google faced backlash over concerns about this kind of deception did the company agree to release Duplex with disclosure built in. As software continues to “eat the world,” the potential for pri- vacy and ethics violations increases. It’s clear that technology executives and managers need to recognize the industry- wide factors that have contributed to the current fractured state of cus- tomer trust and move toward a framework that puts users first. First, let’s examine some of the contributing factors of the current status quo. Believing Moore’s law for too long Intel cofounder Gordon Moore famously predicted that computing power, measured by quantity of transistors, would double every year, leading to expo- nential growth in this field. Moore’s law persisted throughout Humanizing Tech May Be the New Competitive Advantage Bala Iyer, Kristen Getchell, and Fritz Fleischmann 1
- 22. 4 Bala Iyer, Kristen Getchell, and Fritz Fleischmann the hardware and software age, and only recently have we begun to consider its demise. With such a focus on growth and veloc- ity of innovation, many technologists have found themselves ill prepared to consider the impact of their technology. Favoring the individual company over the collective users In the tragedy of the commons, individual rationality and collec- tive rationality are at odds with one another and are contradic- tory. This same conundrum exists today in tech— companies capture and use customers’ personal information but fail to show concern about the overall damage they cause by their indi- vidual actions. Companies have acted in favor of increasing market share, but in the process have eroded the confidence and trust of cus- tomers. This was quite clear as we watched Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg grilled by Congress over the consequences of Cam- bridge Analytica’s data privacy scandal with Facebook user data. Leading with tech first, questions second (or not at all) The rise in artificial and augmented intelligence has led to a proliferation of technologies that create, mimic, and facilitate conversation. This means designers are now introducing empathy, personality, and creativity to machine- human interaction in ways that affect user experience. The relationship a machine has with (and to) a user becomes a new competitive advantage. Everyday objects are now becoming smart objects with the ability to interact with humans. What are the guidelines for structuring these conversations? Google has raised the question of whether users should be informed that they are interacting with a computer. What ethical rules should be in play when it
- 23. Humanizing Tech May Be the New Competitive Advantage 5 comes to using these products, whether it’s a voice assistant, a TV, or even a car? Companies that excel in addressing these questions to gain the trust of users will be given the opportunity to offer new products and services to those users. The key ingredient here— and this cannot be stated too often— is trust. Moving from a “Can We?” to a “Should We?” Framework Technology and business experts must do a better job of antic- ipating challenges before making decisions, by asking key user- centered questions before launching new products into the market. The following questions on a technology’s impact must be systematically addressed before bringing it to market: • Will this technology result in overall good? • What might be some unintended consequences of this technology? • What are the social and ethical impacts of the technology? • Will this technology augment human intellect, disrupt it, or substitute for it? • How could this technology be used negatively against users? Technologists won’t be able to answer these questions by themselves— which brings us to the most important question all executives need to ask: What leadership structures do we need to have in place to guide the future evolution of the technology while controlling for unintended negative consequences? We argue that the answer to this last question needs to be more than simply “we need more engineers.” Instead, it is important
- 24. 6 Bala Iyer, Kristen Getchell, and Fritz Fleischmann for leaders to embrace the following six principles and ensure they are introduced at every level of the organization. 1. Assume responsibility. Companies need to assume ethical and legal responsibility for the impact of their technology on society. The burden of proof should be on companies to provide reasonable assurances that they have scrutinized the impact that their products would have. 2. Offer transparency. It is important that individuals have the ability to access information about any technology they use. Companies should provide frequent impact disclosures on all developing technology, including answers to the questions about their impact. Companies working on the cutting edge of AI should be subject to external review. 3. Give users the right to be forgotten. If customers would like to leave a product or system, they should be able to do so eas- ily, with one click. This would apply to user accounts or per- sonal and transactional data stored by a company. With the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation having taken effect in May 2018, this is now a legal requirement for companies doing business in Europe, not an option. 4. Anticipate technology adoption challenges. Questions about a technology’s impact should not be addressed only after the technology has been developed or in the case of public back- lash. Concerns of intended and unintended impact need to be addressed during the engineering process and embedded in the development of a technology. Ethical considerations can no longer be an afterthought. 5. Conduct experiments. Companies must seek empirical evi- dence to determine how people react to new technology or
- 25. Humanizing Tech May Be the New Competitive Advantage 7 changesinexistingtechnology.Whenintroducingtechnology- enabled product features, companies should conduct statis- tical experiments to determine if users like the changes. For example, if Facebook decides to provide automatic updates on news feeds, it must first conduct multiple tests with a subset of users and then release those data to the public. 6. Assemble a team of diverse thinkers. Tech firms must inte- grate individuals with expertise outside of business and tech- nology into decision- making points across organizations. New skill sets are required when, for example, companies trying to develop conversational commerce technologies seek to design a user experience that is more accessible and humane. Linguists, scriptwriters, human development spe- cialists, sociologists, physicians, scientists, psychologists, and ethicists can help to evaluate the quality of interaction and appropriateness of responses, how machines make users feel, and how technology could impact society. Technology proj- ects power, and how that power should be used is not a tech- nological but an ethical, social, and political question. In summary, it’s time to stop thinking of Moore’s law as if it were a natural law. Humanizing technology should be a core capabil- ity of companies for both ethical and competitive reasons. By striking a balance between technological innovation and con- cerns for users, organizations can achieve a new competitive advantage— one that legacy companies may, in fact, be better poised to gain as many digital natives face rebuilding customer trust as their next challenge.
- 27. In the time you’ve set aside to read this article, you’re likely to check your phone. You’ll probably see notifications for emails or text messages pop up on your lock screen. You won’t resist. Once you’ve started thumbing through your apps, you’ll check Twitter, too. If you use Twitter as your media feed, you may click through to an article about blockchain or vacations in Barbados. I’ll be lucky if you make it back here. Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, would have you believe that your behavior is a serious problem, that the ephemera of the internet are hijack- ing your ability to concentrate and think.1 I disagree— or rather, I’d argue that, in today’s workplace, the seductive clamor of the web is a reality from which there’s no retreat. In the age of big data and ever more powerful processors, we must absorb more data at faster speeds. Those who’ll succeed in this distraction- filled world as thinkers, managers, and innovators will need to combine two seemingly opposing traits. They must be able to absorb diverse information from a wealth of sources, and they must be able to focus intensely. I call this the distraction– focus paradox. While these two qualities seem contradictory, together Managing the Distraction– Focus Paradox Carsten Lund Pedersen 2
- 28. 10 Carsten Lund Pedersen they make up the skill set for managing your most valuable per- sonal resource— your attention— in a hyper- connected age. Yes, these abilities have always been important— but their combination will become more so in the coming years, as social media and mobile computing continue to advance. (See “Skill Set for a Connected World,” which presents the net effect of differing combinations of these essential skills.) Knowledge workers need diverse information. Research has repeatedly shown that diversity in mental models— that is, how you interpret and see problems— leads to better problem solv- ing and more innovation.2 That’s a theme that courses through Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics, the memoir of Richard Thaler, the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the 2017 winner of the Nobel Prize in economics.3 As a young scholar, Thaler kept noticing anomalies that defied standard economic models, like Skill Set for a Connected World “Productive distraction” balances curiosity and concentration. Actively seeking diverse input Ability to focus Agile and disciplined thinking Fresh ideas drowning in white noise Poor decisions and collaboration Cognitive overload and productivity paralysis
- 29. Managing the Distraction– Focus Paradox 11 the so- called endowment effect— the tendency of people to over- value things they already own. Even as an established scholar, his curiosity has ranged widely, as he has published papers on such topics as why NFL teams make irrational decisions in the annual player draft. To help make sense of such phenomena, he collaborated with psychologists. People like Thaler who seek out varied inputs have been shown to be consistently better forecasters than those who rely on more limited information diets.4 And the need to avail one- self of a variety of perspectives has only increased. One of the dangers of the rise of social media is that people’s networks are insufficiently diverse— and consequently risk becoming echo chambers.5 This trend is exemplified by the notions of filter bub- bles and “fake news.”6 We connect more and more, but often only with people or publications that share our views. Compare the experience of browsing at a bookstore a decade or so ago with buying a book online today. In an old- fashioned store, as you ambled over to the business section, you might happen across the archaeology and anthropology books. If you had even a glimmer of interest, you’d find yourself studying the spines. Maybe you’d end up buying Jared Diamond’s surprise best seller, Guns, Germs, and Steel.7 Had you read that 1997 tour de force, you would have learned about the original domestica- tion of plants and animals and the evolution of disease immu- nities and how both of those influenced the distribution of the world’s wealth. Today, if you search for the latest business best seller on Amazon, you’re highly unlikely to receive such an eso- teric recommendation. Tapping into diverse networks also fosters innovation. Much innovation has originated from individuals relying on collabo- ration with open networks— and research has even shown that
- 30. 12 Carsten Lund Pedersen people with more diverse Twitter feeds tend to generate better ideas.8 So people need to train themselves to seek out sources with heterogeneous views. Indeed, when I refer to “distraction,” you could think of that partly as the cognitive load that comes from immersing yourself in a more diverse network. And yet, it’s also important to be able to focus intensely on a specific problem, particularly as expectations of instant responses to emails, alerts, and notifications nag at our attention. Ours is the age of distraction, good and bad. The web blesses us with news from Belarus and the latest advances in biology and bedev- ils us with listicles and personality quizzes on such weighty top- ics as which dog breed or which character from The Simpsons you most resemble. As the digital sirens continue to sing, maintaining energized, deep focus matters even more. Some of the proponents of this line of thought, including Cal Newport, author of Deep Work, have argued that the ability to focus on a demanding task is the way to differentiate yourself in a distracted world.9 This kind of focus entails winnowing the demands and “productive dis- tractions” vying for your attention and time. It also requires the ability to shift between perspectives: seeing the details and the broader context. If you can focus in this way, you can prioritize what to think about (you can better plan) and you can know how to think about it (you can better process). But being focused does not mean behaving like a robot. Focus is the deliberate deploy- ment of your attention. You lock in, rather than zone out. As is so often true, too much of either of these information- age virtues isn’t beneficial, either. If you ramble around the web, pointing and clicking willy- nilly without a goal or guidelines— without a focus— the white noise will block out your ability to hear anything worthwhile. You won’t devote enough time to
- 31. Managing the Distraction– Focus Paradox 13 critical tasks, nor will you distinguish important issues from irrel- evancies. But, if you are too focused and deprive yourself of varied views, you run the risk of lacking creativity and insight. Research has shown that excessive focus can exhaust a person’s attention and lead to ill- conceived decisions and less collaboration.10 Yet having too little information and too little focus seems even worse. Who’d settle for that? Of course, that’s the situation we so often encounter in our digitized, socially connected world: We’rebombardedwithtweets,emails,andFacebookandLinkedIn requests from friends and colleagues, preventing us from finding time to seek out fresh insights or to focus fully on the tasks we consider most important. The goal is, of course, the Golden Mean— a balance between diversity of input and intensity of focus. If you can achieve that, you’re better equipped for our distracted age. This skill set can be understood as a form of meta- cognition— like having a personal project manager inside your head. These skills are analogous to qualities possessed by the best leaders and organizations: consis- tency and agility.11 People who can balance curiosity and concentration fit into the metaphor of the “T- shaped professionals” popularized by Ideo, the design consultancy. The vertical leg of the T conveys focus (expertise and insight) while the horizontal one conveys open- mindedness (empathy and collaborative curiosity). Accord- ing to Ideo’s CEO, Tim Brown, T- shaped people can focus deeply on their particular domains while also interacting productively with colleagues from different disciplines. These complementary characteristics are often needed at Ideo when people solve spe- cific problems.12 So how can you enhance your T- shaped qualities? First, you need to assess your abilities and position yourself in the skill set
- 32. 14 Carsten Lund Pedersen matrix. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses, you can then seek to improve. If you score low on seeking diverse input, chal- lenge yourself to find new sources of information that broaden your knowledge and contradict your assumptions. Or try being your own devil’s advocate and asking yourself, routinely, what would be the opposite perspective on this problem— and what type of information would support it? If you score low on focus, turn off your phone (or at least your notifications) and carve out blocks of time for undisturbed thinking and reading. Philanthropist Bill Gates used to make this a practice when he was running Microsoft. He’d take a “think week” twice a year, retreat to a lakeside cabin, read, and ponder his company’s future.13 These days, Gates posts thoughts about the books he has read lately on his blog, GatesNotes.com, and invites favorite authors to his office for lunch.14 And Gates’ good friend, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, is likewise famed for being a “learning machine” who, by his own admission, often sits in his office and reads all day.15 You can also team up with collaborators who have strengths that complement yours. Or you can just work on getting better: Like many skills, self- questioning and focus can be improved through deliberate practice.16 We’re living in an age of uncertainty, driven by technologi- cal and social change: Cars are driving themselves, drones will soon be delivering packages, and the “free- agent economy” is demanding professionals who can reinvent themselves through- out their careers. To thrive in these turbulent times, you must be capable of “distracted focus.”
- 33. Another Random Document on Scribd Without Any Related Topics
- 34. the rain should chance to penetrate one or two of them, its progress is speedily arrested. On removing this external covering, we perceive that the interior consists of from twelve to sixteen circular combs of different sizes, not ranged vertically, as in a bee-hive, but horizontally, so as to form so many distinct and parallel stories. Each comb is composed of a numerous assembiage of hexagonal cells, formed of the same paper-like substance as the exterior covering of the nest, and, according to a discovery of Dr. Barclay, each, as in those of bees, a distinct cell, the partition walls being double.— Memoirs of the Wernerian Society, ii. 260. These cells, which, as wasps do not store up any food, serve merely as the habitations of their young, are not, like those of the honey-bee, arranged in two opposite layers, but in one only, their entrance being always downwards: consequently the upper part of the comb, composed of the bases of the cells, which are not pyramidal, but slightly convex, forms a nearly level floor, on which the inhabitants can conveniently pass and repass, spaces of about half an inch high being left between each comb. Although the combs are fixed to the sides of the nest, they would not be sufficiently strong without further support. The ingenious builders, therefore, connect each comb to that below it by a number of strong cylindrical columns or pillars, having, according to the rules of architecture, their base and capital wider than the shaft, and composed of the same paper-like material used in other parts of the nest, but of a more compact substance. The middle combs are connected by a rustic colonnade of from forty to fifty of these pillars; the upper and lower combs by a smaller number. The cells are of different sizes, corresponding to that of the three orders of individuals which compose the community; the largest for the grubs of females, the smallest for those of workers. The last always occupy an entire comb, while the cells of the males and females are often intermixed. Besides openings which are left between the walls of the combs to admit of access from one to the other, there are at the bottom of each nest two holes, by one of which the wasps uniformly enter, and through the other issue from
- 35. the nest, and thus avoid all confusion or interruption of their common labours. As the nest is often a foot and a half under ground, it is requisite that a covered way should lead to its entrance. This is excavated by the wasps, who are excellent miners, and is often very long and tortuous, forming a beaten road to the subterranean city, well known to the inhabitants, though its entrance is concealed from curious eyes. The cavity itself, which contains the nest, is either the abandoned habitation of moles or field-mice, or a cavern purposely dug out by the wasps, which exert themselves with such industry as to accomplish the arduous undertaking in a few days. When the cavity and entrance to it are completed, the next part of the process is to lay the foundations of the city to be included in it, which, contrary to the usual customs of builders, wasps begin at the top, continuing downwards. It has already been observed, that the coatings which compose the dome, are a sort of rough but thin paper, and that the rest of the nest is composed of the same substance variously applied. “Whence do the wasps derive it?” They are manufacturers of the article, and prepare it from a material even more singular than any of those which have of late been proposed for this purpose; namely, the fibres of wood. These they detach by means of their jaws from window-frames, posts, and rails, &c. and, when they have amassed a heap of the filaments, moisten the whole with a few drops of a viscid glue from their mouth, and, kneading it with their jaws into a sort of paste, or papier mâché, fly off with it to their nest. This ductile mass they attach to that part of the building upon which they are at work, walking backwards, and spreading it into laminæ of the requisite thinness by means of their jaws, tongue, and legs. This operation is repeated several times, until at length, by aid of fresh supplies of the material, and the combined exertions of so many workmen, the proper number of layers of paper, that are to compose the roof, is finished. This paper is as thin as the leaf you are reading; and you may form an idea of the labour which even the exterior of a wasp’s nest requires, on being told that no fewer than fifteen or sixteen sheets of it are usually placed above each other,
- 36. with slight intervening spaces, making the whole upwards of an inch and a half in thickness. When the dome is completed, the uppermost comb is next begun, in which, as well as all the other parts of the building, precisely the same material and the same process, with little variation, are employed. In the structure of the connecting pillars, there seems a greater quantity of glue made use of than in the rest of the work, doubtless with the view of giving them superior solidity. When the first comb is finished, the continuation of the roof or walls of the building is brought down lower; a new comb is erected; and thus the work successively proceeds until the whole is finished. As a comparatively small proportion of the society is engaged in constructing the nest, its entire completion is the work of several months: yet, though the fruit of such severe labour, it has scarcely been finished a few weeks before winter comes on, when it merely serves for the abode of a few benumbed females, and is entirely abandoned at the approach of spring, as wasps are never known to use the same nest for more than one season. There is good reason for thinking, and the opinion had the sanction of the late Sir Joseph Banks, that wasps have sentinels placed at the entrances of their nests, which, if you can once seize and destroy, the remainder will not attack you. This is confirmed by an observation of Mr. Knight, in the Philosophical Transactions, (vol. 1. 2d Ed. p. 505;) that if a nest of wasps be approached without alarming the inhabitants, and all communication be suddenly cut off between those out of the nest and those within it, no provocation will induce the former to defend it and themselves. But if one escapes from within, it comes with a very different temper, and appears commissioned to avenge public wrongs, and prepared to sacrifice its life in the execution of its orders. He discovered this when quite a boy. In October, wasps seem to become less savage and sanguinary; for even flies, of which, earlier in the summer, they are the pitiless destroyers, may be seen to enter their nests with impunity. It is then, probably, that they begin to be first affected by the approach
- 37. of the cold season, when nature teaches them it is useless longer to attend to their young. They themselves all perish, except a few of the females, upon the first attack of frost. Reaumur, from whom most of these observations are taken, put the nests of wasps under glass hives, and succeeded so effectually in reconciling these little restless creatures to them, that they carried on their various works under his eye.
- 38. CHAP. XXV. CURIOSITIES RESPECTING INSECTS.—(Continued.) Ants—White Ants—Green Ants—Visiting Ants—The Ant-Lion. These emmets, how little they are in our eyes! We tread them to dust, and a troop of them dies Without our regard or concern: Yet, as wise as we are, if we went to their school, There’s many a sluggard, and many a fool, A lesson of wisdom might learn. Watts. The societies of Ants, as also of other Hymenoptera, differ from those of the Termites, in having inactive larvæ and pupæ, the neuter, or workers, combining in themselves both the military and civil functions. Besides the helpless larvæ and pupæ, which have no locomotive powers, these societies consist of females and workers. The office of the females, at their first exclusion distinguished by a pair of ample wings, (which however, they soon cast,) is the foundation of new colonies, and the furnishing of a constant supply of eggs, for the maintenance of the population in the old nests, as well as in the new. These are usually the least numerous part of the community. Gould indeed says, that the males and females are nearly equal in number, p. 62; but from Huber’s observations it seems to follow that the former are the most numerous, p. 96.
- 39. Upon the workers devolves, except in nascent colonies, all the work, as well as the defence of the community, of which they are the most numerous portion. In the warm days that occur from the end of July to the beginning of September, and sometimes later, the habitations of the various species of ants may be seen to swarm with winged insects, which are the males and females, preparing to quit for ever the scene of their nativity and education. Every thing is in motion: and the silver wings, contrasted with the jet bodies which compose the animated mass, add a degree of splendour to the interesting scene. The bustle increases, till at length the males rise, as it were by a general impulse, into the air, and the females accompany them. The whole swarm alternately rises and falls with a slow movement to the height of about ten feet, the males flying obliquely with a rapid zigzag motion; and the females, though they follow the general movement of the column, appearing suspended in the air, like balloons, seemingly with no individual motion, and having their heads turned towards the wind. Sometimes the swarms of a whole district unite their infinite myriads, and, seen at a distance, produce an effect resembling the flashing of an aurora borealis. Rising with incredible velocity in distinct columns, they soar above the clouds. Each column looks like a kind of slender net-work, and has a tremulous undulating motion, which has been observed to be produced by the regular alternate rising and falling just alluded to. The noise emitted by myriads and myriads of these creatures, does not exceed the hum of a single wasp. The slightest zephyr disperses them; and if in their progress they chance to be over your head, if you walk slowly on, they will accompany you, and regulate their motions by yours. Captain Haverfield, R. N. gives an account of an extraordinary appearance of ants observed by him in the Medway, in the autumn of 1814, when he was first-lieutenant of the Clorinde; which is confirmed by the following letter, addressed by the surgeon of that ship, now Dr. Bromley, to Mr. Mac Leay.
- 40. “In September, 1814, being on the deck of the bulk to the Clorinde, my attention was drawn to the water by the first-lieutenant (Haverfield) observing there was something black floating down with the tide. On looking with a glass, I discovered they were insects. The boat was sent, and brought a bucket full of them on board; they proved to be a large species of ant, and extended from the upper part of Salt-pan Reach out towards the Great Nore, a distance of five or six miles. The column appeared to be in breadth eight or ten feet, and in height about six inches, which I suppose must have been from their resting one upon another.” Purchas seems to have witnessed a similar phenomenon on shore. “Other sorts (of ants),” says he, “there are many, of which some become winged, and fill the air with swarms, which sometimes happens in England. On Bartholomew-day, 1613, I was in the island of Foulness, on our Essex shore, where were such clouds of these flying pismires, that we could no where flee from them, but they filled our clothes; yea, the floors of some houses where they fell were in a manner covered with a black carpet of creeping ants; which, they say, drown themselves about that time of the year in the sea.”—Pilgrimage, 1090. These ants were winged; but whence this immense column came, was not ascertained. From the numbers here accumulated, one would think that all the ant-hills of the counties of Kent and Surrey could scarcely have furnished a sufficient number of males and females to form it. When Colonel Sir Augustus Frazer, of the Horse Artillery, was surveying, on the 6th of October, 1813, the scene of the battle of the Pyrenees, from the summit of the mountain called Pena de Aya, or Les Quatre Couronnes, he and his friends were enveloped with a swarm of ants, so numerous as entirely to intercept their view, so that they were glad to remove to another station, in order to get rid of these troublesome little creatures. The females that escape from the injury of the elements and their various enemies, become the founders of new colonies, doing all the work that is usually done by the neuters. M. P. Huber has found
- 41. incipient colonies,[11] in which were only a few workers engaged with their mother in the care of a small number of larvæ; and M. Perrot, his friend, once discovered a small nest, occupied by a solitary female, who was attending upon four pupa only. Such is the foundation and first establishment of those populous nations of ants with which we every where meet. But though the majority of females produced in a nest probably thus desert it, all are not allowed this liberty. The prudent workers are taught by their instinct, that the existence of their community depends upon the presence of a sufficient number of females. Some, therefore, that are fecundated in or near the spot, they forcibly detain, pulling off their wings, and keeping them prisoners till they are ready to lay their eggs, or are reconciled to their fate. De Geer, in a nest of F. rufa, observed that the workers compelled some females that were come out of the nest to re-enter it; (vol. ii. 1071,) —and from M. P. Huber we learn, that, being seized at the moment of fecundation, they are conducted into the interior of the formicary, when they become entirely dependent upon the neuters, who, hanging pertinaciously to each leg, prevent their going out, but at the same time attend upon them with the greatest care, feeding them regularly, and conducting them where the temperature is suitable to them, but never quitting them a single moment. By degrees these females become reconciled to their condition, and lose all desire of making their escape; their abdomen enlarges, and they are no longer detained as prisoners, yet each is still attended by a body-guard, a single ant, which always accompanies her, and prevents her wants. Its station is remarkable, being mounted upon her abdomen, with its posterior legs upon the ground. These sentinels are constantly relieved; and to watch the moment when the female begins the important work of oviposition, and carry off the eggs, of which she lays four or five thousand or more in the course of the year, seems to be their principal office. When the female is acknowledged as a mother, the workers begin to pay her a homage very similar to that which the bees render to their
- 42. queen. All press round her, offer her food, conduct her by her mandibles through the difficult or steep passages of the formicary; nay, they sometimes even carry her about their city: she is then suspended upon their jaws, the ends of which are crossed; and, being coiled up like the tongue of a butterfly, she is packed so close as to incommode the carrier but little. When these set her down, others surround and caress her, one after another tapping her on the head with their antennæ. “In whatever apartment (says Gould) a queen condescends to be present, she commands obedience and respect. A universal gladness spreads itself through the whole cell, which is expressed by particular acts of joy and exultation. They have a particular way of skipping, leaping, and standing upon their hind-legs, and prancing with the others. These frolics they make use of, both to congratulate each other when they meet, and to shew their regard for the queen: some of them walk gently over her, others dance round her; she is generally encircled with a cluster of attendants, who, if you separate them from her, soon collect themselves into a body, and inclose her in the midst.” Nay, even if she dies, as if they were unwilling to believe it, they continue sometimes for months the same attentions to her, and treat her with the same courtly formality as if she were alive, and they will brush her and lick her incessantly. That the ants, though they are mute animals, have the means of communicating to each other information of various occurrences, and use a kind of language which is mutually understood, will appear evident from the following facts. If those at the surface of a nest are alarmed, it is wonderful in how short a time the alarm spreads through the whole nest. It runs from quarter to quarter; the greatest inquietude seems to possess the community; and they carry with all possible dispatch their treasures, the larvæ and pupæ, down to the lowest apartments. Amongst those species of ants that do not go much from home, sentinels seem to be stationed at the avenues of their city. “Disturbing once the little heaps of earth thrown up at the entrances into the nest of
- 43. F. flava, which is of this description, (says Huber,) I was struck by observing a single ant immediately come out, as if to see what was the matter, and this three separate times.” The F. herculanea, L. inhabits the trunks of hollow trees on the Continent, for it has not yet been found in England, upon which they are often passing to and fro. M. Huber observed, that when he disturbed those that were at the greatest distance from the rest, they ran towards them, and, striking their head against them, communicated their cause of fear or anger that these, in their turn, conveyed in the same way the intelligence to others, till the whole colony was in a ferment, those neuters which were within the tree running out in crowds to join their companions in the defence of their habitation. The same signals that excited the courage of the neuters, produced fear in the males and females, which, as soon as the news of the danger was thus communicated to them, retreated into the tree as to an asylum. The legs of one of this gentleman’s artificial formicaries were plunged into pans of water, to prevent the escape of the ants; this proved a source of great enjoyment to these little beings, for they are a very thirsty race, and lap water like dogs.—(Gould, 92. De Geer, ii. 1087. Huber, 5, 132.) One day, when he observed many of them tippling very merrily, he was so cruel as to disturb them, which sent most of the ants in a fright to the nest; but some, more thirsty than the rest, continued their potations: upon this, one of those that had retreated, returns to inform his thoughtless companions of their danger; one he pushes with his jaws; another he strikes first upon the belly, and then upon the breast; and so obliges three of them to leave off their carousing, and march homewards; but the fourth, more resolute to drink it out, is not to be discomfited, and pays not the least regard to the kind blows with which his compeer, solicitous for his safety, repeatedly belabours him; at length, determined to have his way, he seizes him by one of his hind-legs, and gives him a violent pull: upon this, leaving his liquor, the loiterer turns round, and opening his threatening jaws with every appearance of anger,
- 44. goes very coolly to drinking again; but his monitor, without further ceremony, rushing before him, seizes him by his jaws, and at last drags him off in triumph to the formicary.—Huber, 133. The language of ants, however, is not confined merely to giving intelligence of the approach or presence of danger; it is also co- extensive with all their other occasions for communicating their ideas to each other, or holding any intercourse. Some engage in military expeditions, and often previously send out spies, to collect information. These, as soon as they return from exploring the vicinity, enter the nest; upon which, as if they had communicated their intelligence, the army immediately assembles in the suburbs of their city, and begins its march towards that quarter whence the spies had arrived. Upon the march, communications are perpetually making between the van and the rear; and when arrived at the camp of the enemy, and the battle begins, if necessary, couriers are dispatched to the formicary for reinforcements.—Huber, 167, 217, 237. If you scatter the ruins of an ant’s nest in your apartment, you will be furnished with another proof of their language. The ants will take a thousand different paths, each going by itself, to increase the chance of discovery; they will meet and cross each other in all directions, and perhaps will wander long before they can find a spot convenient for their re-union. No sooner does any one discover a little chink in the floor, through which it can pass below, than it returns to its companions, and, by means of certain motions of its antennæ, makes some of them comprehend what route they are to pursue to find it, sometimes even accompanying them to the spot; these, in their turn, become the guides of others, till all know which way to direct their steps.—Huber, 137. It is well known also, that ants give each other information when they have discovered any store of provision. Bradley relates a striking instance of this. A nest of ants in a nobleman’s garden discovered a closet, many yards within the house, in which conserves were kept, which they constantly attended till the nest
- 45. was destroyed. Some in their rambles must have first discovered this depôt of sweets, and informed the rest of it. It is remarkable that they always went to it by the same track, scarcely varying an inch from it, though they had to pass through two apartments; nor could the sweeping and cleaning of the rooms discomfit them, or cause them to pursue a different route.—Bradley, 134. Here may be related a very amusing experiment of Gould’s. Having deposited several colonies of ants (F. fusca) in flowerpots, he placed them in some earthen pans of water, which prevented them from making excursions from their nest. When they had been accustomed some days to this imprisonment, he fastened small threads to the upper part of the pots, and extending them over the water-pans, fixed them in the ground. The sagacious ants soon found out that by these bridges they could escape from their moated castle. The discovery was communicated to the whole society, and in a short time the threads were filled with trains of busy workers passing to and fro.—Gould, 85. Legion’s account of the ants in Barbadoes, affords another most convincing proof of this: as he has told his tale in a very lively and interesting manner, it shall be given nearly in his own words. “The next of these moving little animals are ants, or pismires: these are but of a small size, but great in industry; and that which gives them means to attain to this end is, they have all one soul. If I should say they are here or there, I should do them wrong, for they are every where:—under ground, where any hollow or loose earth is; amongst the roots of trees; upon the bodies, branches, leaves, and fruit of all trees; in all places without the houses and within; upon the sides, walls, windows, and roofs, without; and on the floors, side-walls, ceilings, and windows, within; tables, cupboards, beds, stools, all are covered with them, so that they are a kind of ubiquitaries. We sometimes kill a cockroach, and throw him on the ground; and mark what they will do with him: his body is bigger than a hundred of them, and yet they will find the means to take hold of him, and lift him up; and having him above ground, away
- 46. they carry him, and some go by as ready assistants, if any be weary; and some are the officers that lead and shew the way to the hole into which he must pass; and if the vancouriers perceive that the body of the cockroach lies across, and will not pass through the hole or arch through which they mean to carry him, order is given, and the body turned endwise, and this is done a foot before they come to the hole, and that without any stop or stay; and it is observable, that they never pull contrary ways. A table being cleared with great care, (by way of experiment,) of all the ants that are upon it, and sugar being put upon it, some, after a circuitous route, will be observed to arrive at it; and again departing, without tasting the treasure, will hasten away to inform their friends of the discovery, who, upon this, will come by myriads: you may then, while they are thickest upon the table, clap a large book, or any thing fit for that purpose, upon them, so hard as to kill all that are under it; and when you have done so, take away the book, and leave them to themselves but a quarter of an hour, and when you come again, you shall find all these bodies carried away.—Other trials we make of their ingenuity, as thus: Take a pewter dish, and fill it half full of water, into which put a little gallipot filled with sugar, and the ants will presently find it, and come upon the table, but when they perceive it environed with water, they try about the brims of the dish where the gallipot is nearest; and there the most venturous amongst them commits himself to the water, though he be conscious how bad a swimmer he is, and is drowned in the adventure; the next is not warned by his example, but ventures too, and is alike drowned; and many more, so that there is a small foundation of their bodies to venture; and then they come faster than ever, and so make a bridge of their own bodies.”—Hist. of Barbadoes, p. 63. The fact being certain, that ants impart their ideas to each other, we are next led to inquire by what means this is accomplished. It does not appear that, like the bees, they emit any significant sounds; their language, therefore, must consist of signs or gestures, some of which I shall now detail. In communicating their fear, or expressing their anger, they run from one to another in a semicircle, and strike
- 47. with their head or jaws the trunk or abdomen of the ant to which they mean to give information on any subject of alarm. But those remarkable organs, their antennæ, are the principal instruments of their speech, if I may so call it, supplying the place both of voice and words. When the military ants before alluded to go upon their expeditions, and are out of the formicary, previously to setting off, they touch each other on the trunk with their antennæ and forehead; this is the signal for marching, for, as soon as any one has received it, he is immediately in motion. When they have any discovery to communicate, they strike with them those that they meet in a particularly impressive manner. If a hungry ant wants to be fed, it touches with its two antennæ, moving them very rapidly, those of the individual from which it expects its meal:—and not only ants understand this language, but even aphides and cocci, which are the milch kine of our little pismires, do the same, and will yield them their saccharine fluid at the touch of these imperative organs. The helpless larvæ also of the ants are informed, by the same means, when they may open their mouths to receive their food. Next to their language, and scarcely different from it, are the modes by which they express their affections and aversions. Whether ants, with man and some of the larger animals, experience any thing like attachment to individuals, is not easily ascertained; but that they feel the full force of the sentiment which we term patriotism, or the love of the community to which they belong, is evident from the whole series of their proceedings, which all tend to promote the general good. Distress or difficulty falling upon any member of their society, generally excites their sympathy, and they do their utmost to relieve it. M. Latreille once cut off the antennæ of an ant; and its companions, evidently pitying its sufferings, anointed the wounded part with a drop of transparent fluid from their mouth: and whoever attends to what is going forward in the neighbourhood of one of their nests, will be pleased to observe the readiness with which they seem disposed to assist each other in difficulties. When a burden is too heavy for one, another will soon come to ease it of part of the
- 48. weight; and if one is threatened with an attack, all hasten to the spot, to join in repelling it. The satisfaction they express at meeting after absence is very striking, and gives some degree of individuality to their attachment. M. Huber witnessed the gesticulations of some ants, originally belonging to the same nest, that, having been entirely separated from each other four months, were afterwards brought together. Though this was equal to one-fourth of their existence as perfect insects, they immediately recognized each other, saluted mutually with their antennæ, and united once more to form one family. They are also ever intent to promote each other’s welfare, and ready to share with their absent companions any good thing that they may meet with. Those that go abroad feed those which remain in the nest, and if they discover any stock of favourite food, they inform the whole community, as we have seen above, and teach them the way to it. M. Huber, for a particular reason, having produced heat, by means of a flambeau, in a certain part of an artificial formicary, the ants that happened to be in that quarter, after enjoying it for a time, hastened to convey the welcome intelligence to their compatriots, whom they even carried suspended upon their jaws (their usual mode of transporting each other) to the spot, till hundreds might be seen thus laden with their friends. If ants feel the force of love, they are equally susceptible of the emotions of anger; and when they are menaced or attacked, no insects shew a greater degree of it. Providence, moreover, has furnished them with weapons and faculties which render them extremely formidable to their insect enemies, and sometimes, as I have related on a former occasion, a great annoyance to man himself, (vol. i. 2d ed. p. 123.) Two strong mandibles arm their mouth, with which they sometimes fix themselves so obstinately to the object of their attack, that they will sooner be torn limb from limb than let go their hold; and, after their battles, the head of a conquered enemy may often be seen suspended to the antennæ or legs of the victor, a trophy of his valour, which, however
- 49. troublesome, he will be compelled to carry about with him to the day of his death. Their abdomen is also furnished with a poison-bag, (ioterium,) in which is secreted a powerful and venomous fluid, long celebrated in chemical researches, and once called formic acid, though now considered a modification of the acetic and malic;[12] which, when their enemy is beyond the reach of their mandibles, (it is spoken here particularly of the hill ant, or F. rufa,) standing erect on their hind legs, they discharge from their anus with considerable force, so that from the surface of the nest ascends a shower of poison, exhaling a strong sulphurous odour, sufficient to overpower or repel any insect or small animal. Such is the fury of some species, that with the acid, according to Gould, p. 34. they sometimes partly eject the poison-bag itself. If a stick be stuck into one of the nests of the hill ant, it is so saturated with the acid as to retain the scent for many hours. A more formidable weapon arms the species of the genus Myrmica latr.; for, besides the poison-bag, they are furnished with a sting; and their aspect is also often rendered peculiarly revolting, by the extraordinary length of their jaws, and by the spines which defend their head and trunk. But weapons without valour are of but little use; and this is one distinguishing feature of this pigmy race. Their courage and pertinacity are unconquerable, and are often sublimed into the most inconceivable rage and fury. It makes no difference to them whether they attack a mite or an elephant; and man himself instils no terror into their warlike breasts. Point your finger towards any individual of F. rufa; instead of running away, it instantly faces about, and, that it may make the most of itself, stiffening its legs into a nearly straight line, it gives its body the utmost elevation it is capable of; and thus — “Collecting all its might, dilated stands,” prepared to repel your attack. Put your finger a little nearer, it immediately opens its jaws to bite you, and rearing upon its hind legs, bends its abdomen between them, to eject its venom into the wound.[13]
- 50. This angry people, so well armed and so courageous, we may readily imagine, are not always at peace with their neighbours; causes of dissension may arise, to light the flame of war between the inhabitants of nests not far distant from each other. To these little bustling creatures, a square foot of earth is a territory worth contending for; their droves of aphides being equally valuable with the flocks and herds that cover our plains; and the body of a fly or a beetle, or a cargo of straws and bits of stick, an acquisition as important as the treasures of a Lima fleet to our seamen. Their wars are usually between nests of different species; sometimes, however, those of the same, when so near as to interfere with and incommode each other, have their battles; and with respect to ants of one species, Myrmica rubra, combats occasionally take place, contrary to the general habits of the tribe of ants, between those of the same nest. The wars of the red ant (M. rubra) are usually between a small number of the citizens; and the object, according to Gould, is to get rid of a useless member of the community, (it does not argue much in favour of their humanity, that it is all one if it be by sickness that this member is disabled,) rather than any real civil contest. The red colonies, (says this author,) are the only ones I could ever observe to feed upon their own species. You may frequently discern a party of from five or six to twenty, surrounding one of their own kind, or even fraternity, and pulling it to pieces. The ant they attack is generally feeble, and of a languid complexion, occasioned perhaps by some accident or other.—Gould, 104. “I once saw one of these ants dragged out of the nest by another, without its head; it was still alive, and could crawl about. A lively imagination might have fancied that this poor ant was a criminal, condemned by a court of justice to suffer the extreme sentence of the law. It was more probably, however, a champion that had been decapitated in an unequal combat, unless we admit Gould’s idea, and suppose it to have suffered because it was an unprofitable member of the community.[14] At another time I found three
- 51. individuals that were fighting with great fury, chained together by their mandibles; one of these had lost two of the legs of one side, yet it appeared to walk well, and was as eager to attack and seize its opponents, as if it was unhurt. This did not look like languor or sickness.” The wars of ants that are not of the same species take place usually between those that differ in size; and the great endeavouring to oppress the small, are nevertheless often outnumbered by them, and defeated. Their battles have long been celebrated; and the dates of them, as if they were events of the first importance, have been formally recorded. Æneas Sylvius, after giving a very circumstantial account of one contested with much obstinacy by a great and small species, on the trunk of a pear-tree, gravely states, “This action was fought in the pontificate of Eugenius the Fourth, in the presence of Nicholas Pistoriensis, an eminent lawyer, who related the whole history of the battle with the greatest fidelity!” A similar engagement between great and small ants is recorded by Olaus Magnus, in which the small ones being victorious, are said to have buried the bodies of their own soldiers, but left those of their giant enemies a prey to the birds. This event happened previous to the expulsion of the tyrant Christian the Second from Sweden.—Mouffet, Theatr. Ins. 242. M. P. Huber is the only modern author that appears to have been witness to these combats. He tells us, that when the great attack the small, they seek to take them by surprise, (probably to avoid their fastening themselves to their legs,) and, seizing them by the upper part of the body, they strangle them with their mandibles; but when the small have time to foresee the attack, they give notice to their companions, who rush in crowds to their succour. Sometimes, however, after suffering a signal defeat, the smaller species are obliged to shift their quarters, and to seek an establishment more out of the way of danger. In order to cover their march, many small bodies are then posted at a little distance from the nest. As soon as the large ants approach the camp, the foremost sentinels instantly
- 52. fly at them with the greatest rage; a violent struggle ensues, multitudes of their friends come to their assistance, and, though no match for their enemies singly, by dint of numbers they prevail, and the giant is either slain or led captive to the hostile camp. The species whose proceedings M. Huber observed, were F. herculanea, L. and F. sanguinea, Latr.; neither of which have yet been discovered in Britain.—Huber, 160. The White Ants, or Termites.—The majority of these animals are natives of tropical countries, though two species are indigenous to Europe; one of which, thought to have been imported, is come so near to us as Bourdeaux. Their society consists of five different descriptions of individuals: workers or larvæ, nymphs or pupæ, neuters or soldiers, males, and females. 1. The workers or larvæ, answering to the hymenopterous neuters, are the most numerous, and, at the same time, most active part of the community; upon whom devolves the office of erecting and repairing the buildings, collecting provision, attending upon the female, conveying the eggs, when laid, to the nurseries, and feeding the young larvæ till they are old enough to take care of themselves. They are distinguished from the soldiers by their diminutive size, by their round heads, and shorter mandibles. 2. The nymphs, or pupæ, differ in nothing from the larvæ, and probably are equally active, except that they have rudiments of wings, or rather wings folded up in cases. 3. The neuters are much less numerous than the workers, bearing the proportion of one to one hundred, and exceeding them greatly in bulk. They are also distinguishable by their long and large heads, armed with very long tubulate mandibles. Their office is that of sentinels; and when the nest is attacked, to them is committed the task of defending it. These neuters seem to be a kind of abortive
- 53. females, and there is nothing analogous to them in any other department of entomology. 4 and 5. Males and females, or the insects arrived at a state of perfection, and capable of continuing the species. There is only one of each in every separate society; they are exempted from all participation in the labours and employments occupying the rest of the community, that they may be wholly devoted to the furnishing of a constant accession to the population of the colony. Though at their first disclosure from the pupæ they have four wings, like the female ants, they soon cast them; but they may then be distinguished from the blind larvæ, pupæ, and neuters, by their large and prominent eyes. The different species of Termites, which are numerous, build nests of very various forms. Some construct upon the ground a cylindrical turret of clay, about three-quarters of a yard high, surrounded by a projecting conical roof, so as in shape considerably to resemble a mushroom, and composed interiorly of innumerable cells, of various figures and dimensions. Others prefer a more elevated site, and build their nests, which are of different sizes, from that of a hat to that of a sugar-cask, and composed of pieces of wood glued together, amongst the branches of trees, often seventy or eighty feet high. But by far the most curious habitations, are those formed by the Termes bellicosus, a species very common in Guinea, and other parts of the coasts of Africa, of whose proceedings we have a very particular and interesting account in the 71st volume of the Philosophical Transactions. These nests are formed entirely of clay, and are generally twelve feet high, and broad in proportion; so that when a cluster of them, as is often the case in South America, are placed together, they may be taken for an Indian village, and are in fact sometimes larger than the huts which the natives inhabit. The first process in the erection of these singular structures, is the elevation of two or three turrets of clay, about a foot high, and in shape like a sugar-loaf. These, which seem to be the scaffolds of the future building, rapidly
- 54. increase in number and height, until at length being widened at the base, joined at the top into one dome, and consolidated all around into a thick wall of clay, they form a building of the size above- mentioned, and of the shape of a haycock, which, when clothed, as it generally soon becomes, with a coating of grass, it at a distance very much resembles. When the building has assumed this its final form, the inner turrets, all but the tops, which project like pinnacles from different parts of it, are removed, and the clay employed over again in other services. It is the lower part alone of the building that is occupied by the inhabitants; the upper portion, or dome, which is very strong and solid, is left empty, serving principally as a defence from the vicissitudes of the weather and the attacks of natural or accidental enemies, and to keep up in the lower part a genial warmth and moisture, necessary to the hatching of the eggs and cherishing of the young ones. The inhabited portion is occupied by the royal chamber, or habitation of the king and queen; the nurseries for the young; the storehouses for food; and innumerable galleries, passages, and empty rooms, arranged according to the following plan:— In the centre of the building, just under the apex, and nearly on a level with the surface of the ground, is placed the royal chamber, an arched vault of a semi-oval shape, or not unlike a long oven; at first not above an inch long, but enlarged, as the queen increases in bulk, to the length of eight inches or more. In this apartment the king and queen constantly reside, and, from the smallness of the entrances, which are barely large enough to admit their more diminutive subjects, can never possibly come out; thus, like many human potentates, purchasing their sovereignty at the dear rate of the sacrifice of liberty. Immediately adjoining the royal chamber, and surrounding it on all sides to the extent of a foot or more, are placed the royal apartments, an inextricable labyrinth of innumerable arched rooms, of different shapes and sizes, either opening into each other, or communicating by common passages, and intended for the accommodation of the soldiers and attendants, of whom
- 55. many thousands are always in waiting on their royal master and mistress. Next to the royal apartments come the nurseries and the magazines. The former are invariably occupied by the eggs and young ones, and, in the infant state of the nest, are placed close to the royal chamber; but when the queen’s augmented size requires a larger apartment, as well as additional rooms for the increased number of attendants wanted to remove her eggs, the small nurseries are taken to pieces, rebuilt at a greater distance, a size larger, and their number increased at the same time. In substance they differ from all the other apartments, being formed of particles of wood, apparently joined together with gums. A collection of these compact, irregular, and small wooden chambers, not one of which is half an inch in width, is inclosed in a common chamber of clay, sometimes as big as a child’s head. Intermixed with the nurseries, lie the magazines, which are chambers of clay, always well stored with provisions, consisting of particles of wood, gums, and the inspissated juices of plants. These magazines and nurseries, separated by small empty chambers and galleries, which run round them, or communicate from one to the other, are continued on all sides to the outer wall of the building, and reach up within it two-thirds or three-fourths of its height. They do not, however, fill up the whole of the lower part of the hill, but are confined to the sides, leaving an open area in the middle, under the dome, very much resembling the nave of an old cathedral, having its roof supported by two very large Gothic arches, of which those in the middle of the area are sometimes two and three feet high, but as they recede on each side, rapidly diminish, like the arches of aisles in perspective. A flattish roof, imperforated, in order to keep out the wet, if the dome should chance to be injured, covers the top of the assemblage of chambers, nurseries, &c.; and the area, which is a short height above the royal chamber, has a flattish floor, also waterproof, and so contrived as to let any rain, that may chance to get in, run off into the subterraneous passages.
- 56. These passages or galleries, which are of an astonishing size, some being above a foot in diameter, perfectly cylindrical, and lined with the same kind of clay of which the hill is composed, served originally, like the catacombs of Paris, as the quarries whence the materials of the building were derived, and afterwards as the grand outlets by which the termites carry on their depredations at a distance from their habitations. They run in a sloping direction, under the bottom of the hill, to the depth of three or four feet, and then branching out horizontally on every side, are carried under ground, near to the surface, to a vast distance. At their entrance into the interior, they communicate with other small galleries, which ascend the outside of the outer shell in a spiral manner, and, winding round the whole body to the top, intersect each other at different heights, opening either immediately in the dome in various places, and into the lower half of the building, or communicating with every part of it by other smaller circular or oval galleries of different diameters. The necessity for the vast size of the main underground galleries, evidently arises from the circumstance of their being the great thoroughfares for the inhabitants, by which they fetch their clay, wood, water, or provision; and their spiral and gradual ascent is requisite for the easy access of the termites, which cannot, but with great difficulty, ascend a perpendicular. To avoid this inconvenience, in the interior vertical parts of the building, a flat pathway, half an inch wide, is often made to wind gradually, like a road cut out of the side of a mountain; by which they travel with great facility up ascents otherwise impracticable. The same ingenious propensity to shorten their labour, seems to have given birth to a contrivance still more extraordinary: this is a kind of bridge, or vast arch, sprung from the floor of the area to the upper apartments at the side of the building, which answers the purpose of a flight of stairs, and must shorten the distance exceedingly in transporting eggs from the royal chambers to the upper nurseries, which in some hills would be four or five feet in the straightest line, and much more if carried through all the winding passages which lead through the inner chambers and apartments. Mr. Smeathman measured one of these bridges, which was half an inch broad, a quarter of an inch thick, and ten inches long, making
- 57. the size of an elliptic arch of proportionable dimensions, so that it is wonderful it did not fall over, or break by its own weight, before they got it joined to the side of the column above. It was strengthened by a small arch at the bottom, and had a hollow or groove all the length of the upper surface, either made purposely for the greater safety of the passengers, or else worn by frequent treading. It is not the least surprising circumstance attending this bridge, the Gothic arches before spoken of, and in general all the arches of the various galleries and apartments, that, as Mr. Smeathman saw every reason for believing, the termites project them, and do not, as one would have supposed, excavate them. Consider what incredible labour and diligence, accompanied by the most unremitting activity, and the most unwearied celerity of movement, must be necessary to enable these creatures to accomplish (their size considered) these truly gigantic works. That such diminutive insects, for they are scarcely the fourth of an inch in length, however numerous, should, in the space of three or four years, be able to erect a building twelve feet high, and of proportionable bulk, covered by a vast dome, adorned without by numerous pinnacles and turrets, and sheltering under its ample arch myriads of vaulted apartments, of various dimensions, and constructed of different materials,—that they should moreover excavate, in different directions and at different depths, innumerable subterranean roads or tunnels, some twelve or thirteen inches in diameter, or throw an arch of stone over other roads leading from the metropolis into the adjoining country, to the distance of seven hundred feet,—that they should project and finish the vast interior staircases or bridges, lately described,—and finally, that the millions necessary to execute such Herculean labours, perpetually passing to and fro, should never interrupt and interfere with each other, is a miracle of nature, far exceeding the most boasted works and structures of man; for, did these creatures equal him in size, retaining their usual instincts and activity, their buildings would soar to the astonishing height of half a mile, and their tunnels would expand to a magnificent cylinder of more than three hundred feet in
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