THE 100TH MONKEY

The 100^th Monkey.   (One At A Time)

A Fable or Metaphor told by one Dr. Lyall Watson tells us of…

The Japanese monkey, Macaca Fuscata, who 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 all the monkeys in the tribe were washing sweet potatoes before eating them. The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough!

THE GENERATIONAL GAP.

When I first read this story it was attributed to soul winning (one at a time) to expand the Kingdom of our Creator and Maker, but I believe this can be applied in all spheres of human life to propagate new ideologies and habits that can transform the individual for the betterment of society.

I would want us to pick a few lessons from this fable which I believe are very relevant to our societies especially the African societies we live in. From the fable we read that the monkeys liked the sweet potatoes but found it unpleasant because of the dirt. The first to have learnt the trick of washing the potatoes was an 18 month monkey; she taught her mother and her playmates, who also taught the mothers. We can learn that the mothers did not look at the fact their children were young and as such were inexperienced and do not qualify to teach them but they humbly learnt and also taught their colleague mothers.

AT THE HOME

In most homes; especially in Africa young people are not allowed to freely express their views or even teach or correct the elderly when they go wrong. The young ones are always expected to take what their parents tell them without questions, but in the above fable we see the reverse, where the mothers learnt what their children taught them without complain or prejudice against the young monkeys. It was only the adults who imitated their children enjoyed the palatable potatoes. What I did not understand was the fact that some adults kept eating the dirty potatoes. Does that mean they were adamant to the change or the new skill taught by children? Was it because the skill was been taught by the younger ones? Would they have adapted to this change if the new skill of potato washing was taught by other adults?

AT THE OFFICE

What normally goes in the homes between adults and the youth is not different from what transpires in most African offices or work places. Comments such as, “who does he think he is?”, “what does he think he knows?”, “when did he come, to teach us what to do?”, and so on are very common in most offices where there are many old folks who have worked for a number years but somewhere along the line a young man was brought in to head the department or the entire organization. This enthusiastic young man wants to bring some modern changes to move the department or organization forward to make it more competitive.

However, the old folks are adamant to change, they are not ready to succumb to any young leader. I would classify these old folks as the adult monkeys who kept eating the dirty potatoes even though there was a new skill of washing the dirty potatoes to make more palatable. When the 18 month old monkey brought a cultural innovation of washing sandy potatoes it was picked up by various monkeys both young and old and this influence spread far and wide like a bush fire in the harmattan season.

A change that would bring a social improvement in the lives of people should be embraced by all irrespective of who is bringing the change. An 18 month old monkey brought about a change that became a habit of the Koshima monkeys and this has become part of their way of life. This was because every monkey both young and old learned the new skill one monkey at a time.

In my concluding words, I would like call on all who sit on the fence and swear that change cannot come because of the popular phrase “that’s how we do it here”, should clean their spectacles, rub and open their eyes wide for change would surely come in every corner of their neighborhood. Even though it will tarry, it will surely come.

John Benjamin Eshun © 2011