Page 148 - For Men of Understanding

them, and which are, after all, blind, manage to make this giant construction in
harmony?
An experiment on the issue helps us find the answer to this question.
In the experiment, as a first step, a termite nest that was already in con-
struction was split into two. Throughout the construction, the two termite
groups were prevented from contacting one another. The result was surprising.
What finally came to sight were not two separate nests, but two pieces of one
nest. When the pieces were brought together, it was observed that all the cor-
ridors and canals fitted one another.
How can this be explained? First, it is obvious that not all the termites pos-
sess the necessary information on the construction of the termite nest as a
whole. A termite can have knowledge only of one part of the process in which
it is involved. We then may conclude that the place where all information is
stored is the termite community as a whole. Therefore, here we may talk about
a greater knowledge. Such knowledge can only be said
to exist at the level of a community of individuals of
the same species. This is not the only example. For
instance, when flying as a mass, grasshoppers usu-
ally fly towards a specific direction. If we take one
grasshopper out of this group and put it in a box,
Central chimney it immediately loses its orientation, and panic-
stricken, tries to fly in all directions. If we put
the box among the flying mass, the grasshop-
per finds the right direction and begins
to fly in a single direction, the directi-
on in which the whole mass flies!
Auxiliary chimneys

Food store

Fungus gardens

Queen’s room
Tunnels travelling
above earth
Mainstay on which
the underground Rooms where
nest is constructed larvae are
dropped

THE INSIDE OF THE TERMITE NEST

146 For Men of Understanding