Many different levels to this scenario

This story has many different depths to it IMO. Monkeys are not human but in many primitive ways they are the same IMO. Edit to add I did not write this as it came in an email from a friend..

Four Monkeys.....


You start with a cage containing four monkeys and inside the cage you hang a banana on a string, and then you place a set of stairs under the banana.


Before long a monkey will go to the stairs and climb toward the banana


You then spray ALL the monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt. As soon as he touches the stairs, you spray ALL the monkeys with cold water.


Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.


Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new monkey. The new monkey sees the banana and attempts to climb the stairs. To his shock, ALL of the other monkeys beat the crap out of him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs he will be assaulted.


Next, remove another of the original four monkeys, replacing it with a new monkey. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment - with enthusiasm - because he is now part of the "team."


Then, replace a third original monkey with a new monkey, followed by the fourth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked.


Now, the monkeys that are beating him up have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs.


Neither do they know why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey. Having replaced all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys will have ever been sprayed with cold water.


Nevertheless, not one of the monkeys will try to climb the stairway for the Banana.


Why, you ask? Because in their minds, that is the way it has always been!


This is how today's House and Senate operates, and this Is why from time to time, ALL of the monkeys need to be REPLACED AT THE SAME TIME!


DISCLAIMER: This is meant as no disrespect to monkeys

a reply to: 727Sky

I never met a monkey that didn't like getting sprayed with cold water

Used to have a spider monkey pet named JJ and he wouldn't eat bananas but used to love nuts and used to steal anything shiny, coins, nuts and bolts, the tv remote. He used to spend a long time jerking off in his terrarium and me and my friends used to laugh at him alot he was funny as hell.

JJ was a gift to my step dad from his sister and unfortunately he died of the flu in 2002 .

Monkeys in my life hate bananas trust me I tried like hell to get him to eat the banana he just tore chunks off and left it in the bottom of his house.

On topic though

your story reminds me of the crab theory, where you catch a bunch of crabs on the beach. If you dig a hole and put the crabs in the hole one will always try and climb out but the rest of the crabs pull it back in etc etc

Good analogy except It’s reversed.

In the senate you get beat if you don’t go for the banana.

a reply to: 727Sky

a reply to: 727Sky

Since no such experiment ever occurred, but the fictional tale got spread far and wide on social media, don't you think that the spread of the story demonstrates an irrational 'following of the herd', that people uncritically believe this stuff and keep re-sharing it like it was an example of something?

LOL. derped by your own post

a reply to: 727Sky

Cool Post TY

originally posted by: Athetos
Good analogy except It’s reversed.

In the senate you get beat if you don’t go for the banana.

a reply to: 727Sky

When the senate speaks I ask them to put the peanut where the monkey did. I had a monkey once... Oh come on you know where he put it lol wasn't in its mouth

a reply to: 727Sky

You might find this interesting.

a reply to: DrumsRfun

I feel like most of high school was a part of that experiment I chose to play with my skate board instead and then joined the Marines.

Wait I thought this was an analogy about social conditioning not a study on the actual behaviour of primates…

He even starts by calling it a story…not a study……no one here believed it’s a real study…it’s just you think so low of us that you believed that we believe …..
a reply to: chr0naut

originally posted by: Athetos
Wait I thought this was an analogy about social conditioning not a study on the actual behaviour of primates…

He even starts by calling it a story…not a study……no one here believed it’s a real study…it’s just you think so low of us that you believed that we believe …..
a reply to: chr0naut

I wasn't following the social conditioning and accepting an anecdote posted on a public Internet forum, as valid.

I normally challenge such attempts skeptically.