S.L.Y
01 ps
I call it the Monkey Parable, a story I heard years ago:
You have five monkeys living in a room. One day a banana is placed up near the ceiling, with a ladder to reach it.
When one of them climbs up the ladder to get to the banana, jets in the ceiling douse all the monkeys with ice-cold water.
This process is repeated every time a monkey tries to go up the ladder. Soon enough, in order to avoid the freezing shower, the rest of the monkeys will forcibly prevent any one of them foolish enough to make a move toward the banana.
Then remove one of the monkeys and replace him with another.
The new monkey will naturally go for the banana. To his shock and horror, all the other monkeys attack him. Later he attempts it again, and is assaulted again. He quickly learns to keep away from the banana.
Remove another of the original monkeys and bring in another new one. The newcomer goes for the banana and the others beat him into submission, the next-newest monkey gleefully joining in the punishment.
Keep replacing the original monkeys in this way. Soon you will have five monkeys in the room who have never been doused with icy water, but who all enforce the banana rule no less vehemently for that. If you could ask them why, they'd say something like: That's just the way things have always been done around here!
This story, along with slightly different scenes to illustrate each paragraph, can be found on MOCpages.
01 ps
I call it the Monkey Parable, a story I heard years ago:
You have five monkeys living in a room. One day a banana is placed up near the ceiling, with a ladder to reach it.
When one of them climbs up the ladder to get to the banana, jets in the ceiling douse all the monkeys with ice-cold water.
This process is repeated every time a monkey tries to go up the ladder. Soon enough, in order to avoid the freezing shower, the rest of the monkeys will forcibly prevent any one of them foolish enough to make a move toward the banana.
Then remove one of the monkeys and replace him with another.
The new monkey will naturally go for the banana. To his shock and horror, all the other monkeys attack him. Later he attempts it again, and is assaulted again. He quickly learns to keep away from the banana.
Remove another of the original monkeys and bring in another new one. The newcomer goes for the banana and the others beat him into submission, the next-newest monkey gleefully joining in the punishment.
Keep replacing the original monkeys in this way. Soon you will have five monkeys in the room who have never been doused with icy water, but who all enforce the banana rule no less vehemently for that. If you could ask them why, they'd say something like: That's just the way things have always been done around here!
This story, along with slightly different scenes to illustrate each paragraph, can be found on MOCpages.