Do ants have lungs?

and other questions I think I know the answer to but still have to google

When I see an ant who has hitched a ride on my cup of coffee, I find myself pondering its anatomical makeup. How does it breathe? Are there little lungs squished inside that work like mine? Or am I projecting my experiences on this soldier, who may just be looking for a new grain of sand for its mound? Does it have any sense of speed? If I chuck my coffee cup across the street, will its little ant body feel fear? I have a lot of questions.

So, do ants have lungs? No. But I don’t think it’s an entirely crazy to ask. As soon as it popped up in my mind, I was confident that they did not, but was I really sure? Was I willing to bet my life on the fact that ants did not have lungs? Absolutely not. I know almost nothing of insects other than spiders are scary and cockroaches are worse.

When I think of small questions like this, I don’t really think of the consequences of knowing the answer or not. In fact, I didn’t google the answer until I sat down to write this post — it just didn’t really matter. As I reflect on this, it makes me realize that there are a lot of questions that have easy answers, but we just don’t care enough to look them up — even when the answer is literally at our fingertips or in our pocket. I also realize that there are a lot of questions that don’t have easy answers, and we are even less inclined to try and figure them out. For the sake of explaining what I mean, I’ll use some personal examples I have about life and societal issues: what I call “it”.

Why won’t I ever be able to know if I am making a tangible difference in the world?

Easy answer: I don’t want to go into law, medicine, architecture etc. I want to go into film. I want to be creative. Creativity is not measurable in the ways that policy change is.

Hard answer: Because what I’m interested in has to do with people, social justice, the fight for a progressive society. People don’t have physical light bulbs that turn on when you say something meaningful. I won’t see any tangible difference in the makeup of someone’s thought process — even if I plant a seed for change, how do I know they will water it?

Why can’t I just do what I want to do and let other people figure “it” out?

Easy answer: If everyone thought that way, nothing would get done.

Hard answer: Because I understand how society was built to help people who look like you, and you realized feeling guilty because of your privileges wasn’t a good way to use your energy. Being an ally for marginalized groups isn’t an option, it’s a duty. It’s the debt you pay for being white, straight, and affluent in America. I say duty without the strings of resentment. I say duty because I believe that one of the stipulations to being categorized as a good human being is genuinely striving for equal opportunity for all and acknowledging that it does not yet exist. And I want to be categorized as a good human being.

It works for everything: Why ______?

Easy answer: because.

Hard answer: I don’t know.

In this blog post, if it isn’t already clear, I want to talk about questions. I value questions more than I value answers. I think the more questions we have, the more alive we are, the more creative we can be and the more innovative we can get.

When I was in the fourth grade, my drama teacher was not conducting class in the way I felt I was getting the education I deserved. I, admittedly a bit rudely, asked why we weren’t going about the play in a different way. She asked me,“ If you think you can teach class better than me, why don’t you do it yourself?”

And I did. I directed a play of different skits with my classmates, and it was a fabulous time had by all (sans, perhaps, my teacher).

That was the day that I learned that if I didn’t ask questions, I couldn’t complain about how things were going, and I wouldn’t be able to take part in making them better.

That was also the day my inner activist woke up. Respect authority only if authority is doing its job properly. This means being a benefit to the masses, not a draconian figurehead.

I have questioned a lot since fourth grade, much more than a blog post could ever cover. Questions which have answers that don’t fall within the categories yes and no. I question society openly, and I question authority openly. I question moral values, standards and codes. I believe that if an answer cannot withstand the harshest of questioning, it should not stand at all.

I realize that there are a lot of questions that don’t have easy answers, and we are even less inclined to try and figure them out precisely because they are hard. But I challenge us to try. If we don’t, we remain stagnant, and it’s not a secret that where we are today is far from where we need to be.

P.S. Ants “breathe” through little holes all over their body. I thought that was pretty cool.