Roy Exum: ‘I Am Not A Monkey!’

  • Saturday, May 20, 2017
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

There is a famous story that has been used for years to illustrate human behavior, artificial intelligence, and all kinds of mankind’s other faults. As a matter of fact, if you Google an entry of “Monkeys and Bananas story,” you’ll get 418,000 results in .072 seconds.  One story claims “The Parable of Five Monkeys” originated in a research paper by G.R. Stevenson in 1967 but nobody knows for certain. Trust me on this: it is a classic.

This week it found a new place in American history and you talk about the best lesson in human behavior yet! An Alabama State Representative, Lynn Greer, got an email from a constituent that included the story. Greer, who is serving his eighth term, thought it was funny, and emailed it to others in the Legislature. Oh Lord have mercy! It caused such a commotion House Speaker Mac McCutcheon had to call for a one-hour recess. The state’s Black Caucus immediately demanded a public apology.

"I'm not a monkey," Rep. John Rogers said, his voice tense with emotion. "My mother wasn't a monkey and neither was my father. You're a damn monkey!" Whoa! Rogers even threatened to punch Greer’s nose off.

"I've been here 35 years and I've never seen this kind of action in my life," Rogers went on. "I've been here through five governors, never seen it!!”

As everybody cools down for a moment, allow me to share the story of the five monkeys exactly as it appeared in the magazine “Psychology Today” on March 29, 2012:

* * *

‘WHAT MONKEYS CAN TEACH US ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOR’

In a 2011 blog post called "What Monkeys Can Teach Us About Human Behavior", Michael Michalko  described an experiment involving five monkeys, a ladder, and a banana. Descriptions of this experiment can also be found on the Internet, as a result of this story being told many times in various blogs, books and speeches. The experiment as described in the story, however, never happened.

"This human behavior of not challenging assumptions reminds me of an experiment psychologists performed years ago. They started with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, they hung a banana on a string with a set of stairs placed under it. Before long, a monkey went to the stairs and started to climb towards the banana. As soon as he started up the stairs, the psychologists sprayed all of the other monkeys with ice-cold water.

“After a while, another monkey made an attempt to obtain the banana.  As soon as his foot touched the stairs, all of the other monkeys were sprayed with ice cold water. It's wasn't long before all of the other monkeys would physically prevent any monkey from climbing the stairs.

“Now, the psychologists shut off the cold water, removed one monkey from the cage and replaced it with a new one. The new monkey saw the banana and started to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attacked him.  After another attempt and attack, he discovered that if he tried to climb the stairs, he would be assaulted.

“Next they removed another of the original five monkeys and replaced it with a new one. The newcomer went to the stairs and was attacked. The previous newcomer took part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, they replaced a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey tried to climb the stairs, he was attacked.

“The monkeys had no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they were beating any monkey that tried. After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys had ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approached the stairs to try for the banana.

“Why not? Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been around here. People sometimes do the same in the workplace. How many times have you heard ‘It has always been done this way. Don't mess with what works.’ Instead of challenging these assumptions, many of us, like the monkeys, simply keep reproducing what has been done before. It's the easiest thing to do."

* * *

The version of the email sent to Greer differed slightly from what you have just read. Another sentence was added at the bottom: “This is the how the House and the Senate operates and, this is why from time to time, ALL of the monkeys NEED TO BE REPLACED AT THE SAME TIME. (Disclaimer: This is meant as no disrespect to monkeys!”)

Cross my heart, I’ve read this story dozens of times over the years and never, ever, not once, have I felt it was racist or degrading at all. Last week the Alabama legislature got fiery over some district zones that some members of the Black Caucus disliked but the “Monkeys and Bananas” story is as clean as the driven snow. Rep. Rogers was horrified at the reaction, explaining the story was taken out of context but black leaders didn’t accept that, calling it “an excuse, not an apology.”

Rogers responded on live TV, “From the bottom of my heart, I didn’t mean anything bad … The story about monkeys and the banana even has its own Facebook page.”

Are you kidding me? Earlier this week in Montgomery, State Rep. John Knight, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, told reporters the email was "insulting," "unacceptable” and then added, “There is no place in the State House for this type of emails to be circulated," he said. "We resent it and we will not tolerate it. Our voices have not been heard, and we have been subjected to the most racial insult that I've ever seen.

"Being a veteran of the Vietnam War, being a citizen of the United States, being a resident of Alabama, it is unacceptable, and we will not continue to take this kind of action."

You have just read a story about artificial intelligence, human behavior and America as it is today. We do not want our children, or their children, to grow up this way.

royexum@aol.com

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