The Lesson Of The Monkeys -- Challenge The Status Quo

I saw this today. I thought it would make for good conversation. This was a study done regarding learned responses of monkeys. The actual study can be found online, but this illustration is great too.












So let us discuss what happens when generations of humans, also have this similar scenario placed upon them. Usually in this day and age, it's used with Nationalism and Patriotism.

Even in our economic system we see ourselves saying ' Well, it's just the way things are, just work within the current system."

But if we did that, then who the hell gets any bananas? Nobody, just the guys who put it on the ladder, and they already had ALL the bananas to begin with.

Another stellar example of how easily we are influenced over time, by ideas and processes that harm us. That convince us that we deserve this harm, and that there is no actual way of getting out of it.

A form of self induced, self flagellation.

Thoughts?

~Tenth

Source

* Stephenson, G. R. (1967). Cultural acquisition of a specific learned response among rhesus monkeys. In: Starek, D., Schneider, R., and Kuhn, H. J. (eds.), Progress in Primatology, Stuttgart: Fischer, pp. 279-288.

If the monkey's had killed the scientist's they would have saved themselves a lot of hassle......their's a lesson in there somewhere.

Been showing people this video for a while now, it pretty much says the same as those picture.



When I try to explain these things people automatically assume I'm trying to call them stupid, when that isn't the case at all.
Kind of makes me want to not even bother trying, but it's hard to look at so many blind eyes..

Awesome thread, it reminds me of a story I was once told called "The 100th Monkey."

The Japanese monkey, Macaca fuscata, had been observed in the wild for a period of over 30 years. In 1952, on the island of Koshima, scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand. The monkey liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes, but they found the dirtunpleasant. An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could solve the problem by washing the potatoes in a nearby stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her playmates also learned this new way and they taught their mothers too. This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists. Between 1952 and 1958 all the young monkeys learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to make them more palatable. Only the adults who imitated their children learned this social improvement. Other adults kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes. Then something startling took place. In the autumn of 1958, a certain number of Koshima monkeys were washing sweet potatoes -- the exact number is not known. Let us suppose that when the sun rose one morning there were 99 monkeys on Koshima Island who had learned to wash their sweet potatoes. Let's further suppose that later that morning, the hundredth monkey learned to wash potatoes. THEN IT HAPPENED! By that evening almost everyone in the tribe was washing sweet potatoes before eating them. The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough! But notice: A most surprising thing observed by these scientists was that the habit of washing sweet potatoes then jumped over the sea...Colonies of monkeys on other islands and the mainland troop of monkeys at Takasakiyama began washing their sweet potatoes. Thus, when a certain critical number achieves an awareness, this new awareness may be communicated from mind to mind. Although the exact number may vary, this Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon means that when only a limited number of people know of a new way, it may remain the conscious property of these people. But there is a point at which if only one more person tunes-in to a new awareness, a field is strengthened so that this awareness is picked up by almost everyone!

Source

Pretty interesting stuff.

The way I see it, we are just waiting for the "Hundredth Monkey"...

And sorry if I didn't link something correctly, I'm still new to that aspect as I rarely post on here.
EDIT: Think I got it.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Conclusion:

In order to break the cycle you have to stand up against the norm.

Like Rage Against The Machine,

"Why stand on a silent platform, fight the war, f**k the norm!"

reply to post by tothetenthpower


S+F. very good find and simple to understand. I'll be showing this to a few people over the next week.
I was going to make a Flippant joke about hipsters "The Monkees" and British Rockers "Status quo".

This sounds familiar. Are you aware of any real world groups that are actively using this technique to control people?

reply to post by tvtexan


Yep the media, and they're not that sophisticated in they're methods......hey those people have different skin colour, religions, political views, social status too you, hate them, kill them....and we fall for it every time.

reply to post by badvok123


Why the laughing face at the end of that?


I guess things have always been done like that round here.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I saw this study years back and thought it was pretty dern cool, considering monkeys are closest to humans.
I assume the study was done for human behavior and not for the monkeys benefit.
What a neat and twisted world we live in ehh?

Ignore that fact the poor monkeys are beating up each other for just a second...

Everyone is overlooking the simple fact that by working together the original monkeys figured out a way to save every single future monkey from having to endure an unpleasant event. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."

Kind of smart if you ask me.

Originally posted by badvok123
If the monkey's had killed the scientist's they would have saved themselves a lot of hassle......their's a lesson in there somewhere.

edit on 8-8-2012 by badvok123 because: (no reason given)

and they would have gotten the bananas.

Originally posted by fairguy
reply to post by badvok123

 

Why the laughing face at the end of that?

I guess things have always been done like that round here.

Because after 40yrs of being on this planet, I see it so blatantly, and I just think it's funny people still fall for it....plus I'm a facetious ass.

Originally posted by badvok123

Originally posted by fairguy
reply to post by badvok123

 

Why the laughing face at the end of that?

I guess things have always been done like that round here.

Because after 40yrs of being on this planet, I see it so blatantly, and I just think it's funny people still fall for it....plus I'm a facetious ass.

Star for honesty, I call myself a cynic.
I can't even be kind to myself...

Originally posted by underduck

Originally posted by badvok123
If the monkey's had killed the scientist's they would have saved themselves a lot of hassle......their's a lesson in there somewhere.

edit on 8-8-2012 by badvok123 because: (no reason given)

and they would have gotten the bananas.

And they could of used the ladders to escape, rise of the planet of the ape's style

reply to post by badvok123


I like it

reply to post by RedParrotHead


From the monkey's perspective yes, good job on them for keeping any of their fellow monkeys from being harmed.

What happens when the harm has dissipated though, and everybody still follows the same route?

That's I think what the human perspective to take out of this is. That we have no problem just blindly following whatever the last set of people said was how things worked.

~Tenth

Originally posted by badvok123

Originally posted by underduck

Originally posted by badvok123
If the monkey's had killed the scientist's they would have saved themselves a lot of hassle......their's a lesson in there somewhere.

edit on 8-8-2012 by badvok123 because: (no reason given)

and they would have gotten the bananas.

And they could of used the ladders to escape, rise of the planet of the ape's style

The point of the story is that you can get a lot done if you just kill the person in charge. Finding out who that person is can be a completely different story.

reply to post by RomeByFire


? 100th Monkey communicating by what means?

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Have you ever jumped off a bridge??? If no...why not???

Have you ever stuck a fork in a light socket??? If not...why not???


Have you learned from personal experience to not do these things??? Or have you learned from being told by others???


Learning is not a bad thing...and this make believe experiment is just claiming that learning is bad....you don't always have to experience something first hand to know it is bad.