Ants that seem to defy biology – They lay eggs that hatch into another species

> It is helpful to think of the whole colony as a singular organism as opposed to individuals, because our understanding of individual starts breaking down at these levels

Can't the organisms be viewed as individuals with a shared common goal.

Indeed. They are individual organisms, not one large organism. Talk of "superorganisms" seems to presuppose that each individual must seek his own survival and reproduction, but that's untrue. From the point of view of the species and its propagation and survival, it is not a question of individuals. That's just one strategy that may characterize the reproductive behavior of some species, but not others.

I think you can argue it either way. Either one is trying to map human concepts onto non-human existence and that's an inherently muddy process. What does "individual" really mean, anyway...

Maybe.

The workers are involuntary but willing participants, in a grand scheme where the queens and males get to create new generations. But this is possible only if we anthropomorphise a lot.

because at the level of ants/bees I'm not even sure what "individual" even means.

But genetically they originate from the same individual, live for the betterment of the whole, and have very minor say in what happens to themselves or their genes. Much similar to cells in a human being does.

No. Neither ant colonies nor individual ants have goals.

Their goal is to ensure the survival of the colony and establish new colonies