One Day, the Atta Ants Will Rule the Earth
One day, when I was about nine, I was playing with my siblings in our backyard, when we came across a group of ants carrying debris. At first, it seemed insignificant, but our inquisitive nature drove us to follow them. They moved in a line and very fast like they were on a mission of some sort. We trailed the long line of serious, hard-working ants to what our child-like minds could only describe as a castle made of earth.
It was strange to see their shelter made of mud; after all, our forefathers constructed their homes similarly, using earth to build huts with thatch roofs. As children, we couldn’t believe that ants could be so organized as to actually build an entire city. Of course, just like God Almighty looking down on man trying to build the Tower of Babel, we felt compelled to intervene. “Think fast,” we said, and ran to find sticks and stones. We couldn’t let this just happen. First, they build towers, and then what? They could take over the world someday. And with all the power in our little hands, we attacked, hitting as hard as we could, doing what man knows best: destroy.
Years later, as a designer who majored in Architecture, I have come to find these little guys incredible. Ant colonies are quite fascinating. These tiny insects exhibit remarkable abilities to organize and cooperate. The colonies are very effectively classed into…