Without self-organization and pacemaker, Manchester would not have been able to be built. After the building of Manchester, Johnson asserts 'how difficult it is to think in models of self-organization, to imagine a world without pacemakers'(Johnson,197). The term pacemaker is indeed a very complex term and not as simple as it вЂ¦show more contentвЂ¦ In his essay, Johnson mentions that the city of Manchester did not just come up like that, but rather became a reality through a gradual process consisting of several factors.

Furthermore, genes and the brain have quite similar functions to carry out, which is giving out instructions to us, so in that regard both could be termed as pacemakers. Making radical shifts gives us an indication that the brain could be termed as a pacemaker within us, as it controls what we do. Doesn't that evidently go against what he actually thinks of a pacemaker? To further complicate Johnson's perception, Sacks states 'Yet the brain remains capable of making radical shifts in response to sensory deprivation'(Sacks,331). In this sense, couldn't genes be termed as pacemakers too as they are 'instructing' the ants to protect their mother, and in reality, that really is what a pacemaker is, or in other words a central authority figure does, give instructions. As he states 'their genes instruct them to protect their mother, the same way their genes instruct them to forage for food'(Johnson,194). However, through Oliver Sacks' essay 'The Mind's Eye,' we are able to complicate the argument presented by Johnson, as Sacks' вЂ¦show more contentвЂ¦ Johnson's perception of pacemaker seems quite misleading, and gives us a sense as to he himself is not sure what exactly is a pacemaker. Although Johnson's perception is correct to some extent, in a broader sense, not only is it a authoritative figure but also it is also there to ensure a sense of positivity within us, regardless of whether being found at the top or bottom. Johnson's way of perceiving 'pacemaker' seems too narrow, as he mentions that a pacemaker is a central authority figure. Johnson debunks the idea of a top down leadership and sheds light on the emergence of the self-organizing systems in our society. In his essay 'The Myth of the Ant Queen,' Steven Johnson seemingly disregards the notion of pacemaker, labeling it as fake and a myth.

Emergence the myth of the ant queen