100th Monkey

The Japanese monkey, Macaca fuscata, had been observed in the wild for a period of over 30years. 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!

This is an excerpt from the book by Ken Keyes, jr. "The Hundredth Monkey."

Letter

So, I was rummaging through a drawer looking for something yesterday when i found a letter my gran had written me about 10 years ago. It was after I'd let her read a dissertation I'd written for English class. I dont know why she felt compelled to write me a letter, but I'm so glad she did. It's weird...reading the letter makes more sense now than it did back then. It was almost like a communication beyond the grave...she said in it how no goal should ever be unattainable and that i would never go wrong in life, for a small voice inside would always keep me on the right path and to remember that i would always be surrounded by people who love me.

I burst out crying. I'd been thinking about her just earlier in the day and feeling sad. It's weird,the letter almost had tones of a farewell...although i dont believe we ever truly lose loved ones. I'm not religious in the conventional sense but i truly believe in the continuity of life. to me, it just makes sense. it's more than a belief, more of a knowing.

I'll treasure that letter forever.