The Myth Of The Ant Queen 'And Project Classroom Makeover'

After reading the essays “The Myth of the Ant Queen” and “Project Classroom Makeover” by Steven Johnson and Cathy Davidson, readers may have spotted that collective knowledge and different systems of organization, respectively, are mentioned in the essays. Interestingly enough, these two completely different essays still have ideas that can work together to address a point: that collective knowledge can greatly impact how effective multiple systems of organization can be. After all, collaboration with others who have different knowledge and perspectives creates a stronger foundation for a system of organization that is arguably sturdier as opposed to one that is built on the expertise of an individual. Take Cathy Davidson’s classroom incidence

With that said, one shouldn’t place everyone on an equal standing in power yet place limitations and restrictions on them to control what things should and shouldn’t be done just as well, for both can produce negative results or produce them inefficiently. Balance is necessary to maintain for living beings can accomplish great things when the environment around them is pleasant and lacks any possible hierarchies, even those that remain unseen.
First off, it’s important to note how in “Project Classroom Makeover”, Cathy Davidson’s usage of the classroom example could be seen as an example of when collective knowledge bettered a system of organization. At first, Cathy Davidson seemingly had no hope in being able to pass the eighth grade and therefore would not have had the chance to graduate, all due to not being able to memorize the preamble. Nothing more and nothing less so it seems. This was due to the fact that her teacher, Miss Schmidt, used to be an expert and didn’t take suggestions from younger students, nor did she seem inviting to students to have them suggest to her their ideas. However, the glorious day came when Miss Schmidt decided to change things up in terms of how she teaches. This time, Miss Schmidt asked Cathy Davidson how she felt and if she would

Through these two essays, it became clear how knowledge such as collective knowledge can heavily impact the way a system of organization is meant to be. Whether it is in Davidson’s classroom example containing a thoughtful teacher and desperate student in need of graduating middle school, or in Steven Johnson’s example with the ant colony where evolution assisted the collective thinking of all the ants, collective knowledge is a great thing to utilize. As hinted by Cathy Davidson before, being an expert at something means one is required to put in a humongous amount of time to work in their area of expertise and always produce significant results in their systems. This is highly ineffective, and as Johnson stated, “you don’t need regulations and city planners…All you need are thousands of individuals and a few simple rules of interaction” (199). He agrees that expertise doesn’t belong in a system of organization. Acquiring a multitude of people who work collaboratively is effective enough. It wouldn’t be feasible for the ant queen or Miss Schmidt to have assumed position of maximum authority 100% of the time. If that were the case, it meant that she’d have to fail one of her students, which implies that she was not able to get her entire class to pass and