Notes
1. I should acknowledge here that technically speaking, from a
biological standpoint, "drones" is an imprecise metaphor, since it is
actually the sterile female worker ants (or bees) that actually do everything, while
the drones just sit around and wait for one moment of sex. However, it seems that
the word "drone" also carries connotations of mindlessness, anonymity, lack of
self-interest or motivation (in a negative sense of slavishly following, and
senseless ruination, as in the drones used in present-day warfare) evocative of the
sense I would like to give. Jaron Lanier also uses it, to similar effect.