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The 100th Monkey
A story about social change.
by Ken Keyes, jr.
This is a synopsis of a larger article. If you wish to read or download
the longer article click here.
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 dirt unpleasant.
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!
Maybe you are the 100th Monkey for the Dharma?
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