raistlinflux
10-15-2005, 05:58 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundredth_Monkey
The story of the "Hundredth Monkey" apparently originated with Lyall
Watson in his 1979 book Lifetide. In it he claimed to describe the
observations of scientists studying macaques (a type of monkey) on
the Japanese island of Koshima in 1952. Some of these monkeys learned
to wash sweet potatoes, and gradually this new behavior spread
through the younger generation of monkeys?in the usual fashion,
through observation and repetition. However, according to Watson the
researchers noted that once a critical number of monkeys was reached?
the so-called hundredth monkey?this previously learned behaviour
instantly spread across the water to monkeys on nearby islands.
This story was further popularized by Ken Keyes with the publication
of his book The Hundredth Monkey. Keyes presented the "Hundredth
Monkey" story as an inspirational parable, applying it to human
society and the effecting of (positive) change therein. Since then,
the story has become widely accepted as fact, and has even appeared
in books written by some educators.
.
.
.
In 1985, Elaine Myers re-examined the original published research
in "The Hundredth Monkey Revisited" in the journal In Context. In her
review she found that the original research reports by the Japan
Monkey Center in vol. 2, 5 and 6 of the journal Primates differs from
Watson's story in significant ways. In short, it contains no evidence
that the 'Hundredth Monkey' phenomenon exists; the published articles
only describe how the sweet potato washing behavior gradually spread
through the monkey troop and became part of the set of learned
behaviors of young monkeys. There is no evidence at all of a critical
number at which the idea suddenly spread to other islands, and none
of the original researchers ever made such a claim.
[Supporting Links]
http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC09/Myers.htm
http://www.csicop.org/si/9605/monkey.html
PS: Seems like the 100th Monkey Effect is not so solid afterall...
The story of the "Hundredth Monkey" apparently originated with Lyall
Watson in his 1979 book Lifetide. In it he claimed to describe the
observations of scientists studying macaques (a type of monkey) on
the Japanese island of Koshima in 1952. Some of these monkeys learned
to wash sweet potatoes, and gradually this new behavior spread
through the younger generation of monkeys?in the usual fashion,
through observation and repetition. However, according to Watson the
researchers noted that once a critical number of monkeys was reached?
the so-called hundredth monkey?this previously learned behaviour
instantly spread across the water to monkeys on nearby islands.
This story was further popularized by Ken Keyes with the publication
of his book The Hundredth Monkey. Keyes presented the "Hundredth
Monkey" story as an inspirational parable, applying it to human
society and the effecting of (positive) change therein. Since then,
the story has become widely accepted as fact, and has even appeared
in books written by some educators.
.
.
.
In 1985, Elaine Myers re-examined the original published research
in "The Hundredth Monkey Revisited" in the journal In Context. In her
review she found that the original research reports by the Japan
Monkey Center in vol. 2, 5 and 6 of the journal Primates differs from
Watson's story in significant ways. In short, it contains no evidence
that the 'Hundredth Monkey' phenomenon exists; the published articles
only describe how the sweet potato washing behavior gradually spread
through the monkey troop and became part of the set of learned
behaviors of young monkeys. There is no evidence at all of a critical
number at which the idea suddenly spread to other islands, and none
of the original researchers ever made such a claim.
[Supporting Links]
http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC09/Myers.htm
http://www.csicop.org/si/9605/monkey.html
PS: Seems like the 100th Monkey Effect is not so solid afterall...