virus: Fw: Memetics in our time

From: L' Ermit (lhermit@hotmail.com)
Date: Sun Jan 27 2002 - 14:30:16 MST

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As it is mentioned on the site referenced by David
[url=www.soli.com/jhardy/memetics.txt][/url], it is perhaps worth noting
that the "100th monkey effect" is a fabrication that has taken on a life of
its own - but remains invalid. The following is an old post with some minor
changes.

Regards

Hermit

["virus: Critical Mass of Enlightenment", Hermit, Sun 1999-04-11 23:43]

The "Critical Mass of Enlightenment", sometimes known as the "Hundredth
Monkey" phenomenon, and also sometimes known by the more scientific
sounding, but equally bunkum term "morphic resonance" invented by Rupert
Sheldrake, is far from being a new idea. The following article with a few
additions by me was lifted from the Skeptik's Dictionary [url=
http://skepdic.com/monkey.html][/url], a site worth consulting whenever your
bullshit detectors begin to twitch! If the "Critical Mass of Enlightenment"
ravings expressed recently on this list have not caused your bullshit
detector to slam into the overload range, it is time to have it serviced.

This snake-oil concept has been exploited by shamans and other con-artists
for years (e.g. the TM movement), to say nothing of wishful thinkers and the
simply deluded. Deciding which of the categories a particular exponent of
ridiculous concepts belongs to, is left as a task for those who have more
time than sense. Why people choose to transmit memes like this is less
important than the obvious lack of rational skepticism applied to
"paranormal" phenomena, which leads to people publishing bunk like this
based upon unfounded or indeed refuted (as this one is) research and
hypothesis.

The hundredth monkey phenomenon refers to a sudden spontaneous and
mysterious leap of consciousness achieved when an allegedly "critical mass"
point is reached. For example, people start thinking about ending world
hunger. One person gets another to start thinking about it who gets another
who gets another not ad nauseam or ad infinitum but until suddenly a
breakthrough is achieved when the "critical mass" point is reached. Then,
spontaneously and mysteriously, everybody starts thinking about ending world
hunger.

The expression "hundredth monkey" comes from an experiment on monkeys done
in the 1950's. It was alleged by Lyall Watson in his book Lifetide that one
monkey taught another to wash potatoes who taught another who taught another
and soon all the monkeys on the island were washing potatoes where no monkey
had ever washed potatoes before. When the hundredth monkey learned to wash
potatoes, suddenly and spontaneously and mysteriously monkeys on other
islands, with no physical contact with the potato-washing cult, started
washing potatoes! Was this monkey telepathy at work or just monkey business
on Watson's part?

It makes for a cute story, but it isn't true. At least, the part about
spontaneous transmission of a cultural trait across space without contact is
not true. There really were some monkeys who washed their potatoes. One
monkey started it and soon others joined in. But even after six years not
all the monkeys saw the benefit of washing the grit off of their potatoes by
dipping them into the sea. Lyall made up the part about the mysterious
transmission. The claim that monkeys on other islands had their
consciousness raised to the high level of the potato-washing cult was a lie.

The origin of the tale is the 1979 Lyall Watson book, Lifetide. Watson has
since confirmed he made the story up. In 1989, Watson said "It is a metaphor
of my own making, based on very slim evidence and a great deal of hearsay. I
have never pretended otherwise."

The notion of raising consciousness through reaching critical mass is being
promoted by a number of New Age spiritualists, including Ken Keyes, Jr. Mr
Keyes has published a book on the WWW which calls for an end to the nuclear
menace and the mass destruction which, he claims, surely awaits us all if we
do not make a global breakthrough soon. The title of his treatise is The
Hundredth Monkey [url=http://www.worldtrans.org/pos/monkey.html][/url]. In
his book
he writes such things as "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!" Well, it seems to be working for spreading
the word about the hundredth monkey phenomenon! In fact, there seems to be
no end to those seeking spiritual transformation of themselves and the
universe. Witness the M100 or Hundredth Monkeying! project
[url=http://www.newage.com.au/home/M100.html][/url]. "Our prayer is to bring
benefit to all of world society without prejudice or bias." Who could
complain about such a goal? Well the age of unreason excemplified by some
list members might be upon us, but the CoV is theoretically a rational
organization. To claim any kind of "scientific" validity for this concept
requires that it meet the requirement of repeatability, predictability and
falsifiability. So far I have not even seen a demonstration of "collective
consciousness" never mind a suggested method of falsifying its supposed
existence.

If you want more information on hundredth monkeying, you should read
Morphogenetics and Monkeys [url=
http://www.isleofavalon.co.uk/edu/monkey/olds/m05-morf.html][/url]. It has
all the latest stuff on building up your inner-energy field , doors of
perception, healing and the millennium. It must be very exciting to part of
a global fellowship of soul nourishers. As the Monkey Man says: "...healing
the human heart is central to all other necessary changes in the
twenty-first century." Amen nutter.
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