She lays eggs and is fed and cared for by the workers. A quote from Gordon explains the true role of the ‘queen’ ant, “the queen is not an authority figure. He compares this part of the colony to the cramped conditions of the New York subway system during rush hour. Then he sees that the whole colony is wonderfully alive, the cluster of ants in steadily moving. First he discovered how many ants are jammed into a small area which at first just looks like dirt. Johnson observed Deborah Gordon’s ant colony and found several interesting things about it. The first example Johnson uses is a colony of ants. To show this, Johnson looks at examples of complex systems, such as ant colonies, cities, and the internet to show that intelligence of the whole system emerges in the absence of any central form of leadership or authority by individuals following some set of rules. Johnson tries to show us that intelligence is not a property of the individual, but that it’s a characteristic that emerges out of a system working as a whole.
The essay “The Myth of the Ant Queen,” by Steven Johnson deals with the nature of intelligence.