HERE IS WISDOM - PART ONE

There is a well-known story about a group of scientists who conducted an experiment by placing five monkeys in a cage. The story was first published in a book called Competing for the Future by Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad; and the story goes something like this: • A group of scientists placed five monkeys in a cage, and in the middle of it, they put a ladder with a bunch of bananas on top. Every time a monkey tried to climb up the ladder, the scientists soaked all the monkeys with cold water. • After getting soaked by a few cold showers, every time a monkey tried to go up the ladder, the rest of the monkeys beat it up; just to make sure none of the others had to experience cold showers. • In time, all the monkeys learned their lesson, and none of the monkeys dared to climb up the ladder, regardless of how many bananas were on top. • The scientists then decided to replace one of the five monkeys with a new one. The first thing the new monkey tried to do was climb up the ladder to get to the bananas on top. Immediately, the other four monkeys beat up the new monkey; thinking that they might all get soaked with cold water again. After a few beatings, the new monkey learned its lesson, and stopped climbing the ladder, even though it never knew why. • Now the scientists added a second new monkey into the cage and replaced another one of the original five monkeys. As soon as the second new monkey arrived, the same thing happened. When the second new monkey tried to climb up the ladder, all the other monkeys beat it up, thinking that they would get soaked with cold water. Interestingly, the first new monkey participated in the beatings of the second new monkey, without really knowing why. • The scientists then replaced a third monkey in the cage, and the same events followed. Later, a fourth monkey was replaced, and the same events were repeated. • Finally, the fifth and last monkey was replaced with a new one; and none of the original monkeys that were soaked with cold water were left in the cage. • Now, the five new monkeys in the cage continued to beat up anyone that tried to climb the ladder, even though they never received a cold shower themselves; and they had no idea why they were beating each other up. • At this point of the experiment, if it was possible for the scientists to ask the new monkeys why they were beating up anyone trying to climb the ladder, their obvious answer would be: “We don’t know - that’s just how things are done around here.” This fictional story, narrated by its authors, aims to drive home a simple message — apparently, the moral is that we should not keep doing something without knowing why we are doing it. Since none of the five new monkeys experienced cold showers themselves, none of them knew why they were beating each other up. Their actions were merely based on custom or habit. They were following a tradition they did not understand — blindly upholding a custom with no clear reason behind it. This message seems simple, but let’s not take it at face value too quickly. Let’s consider this question — if at the end of the experiment, one of the new monkeys tried to climb up the ladder; how do we know if the scientists would soak the new monkeys with cold water, or not? The answer is — we don’t really know. So maybe those seemingly pointless actions of the new monkeys weren’t so foolish after all. The customs and habits the five new monkeys inherited from their predecessors would be valuable if in fact the scientists were planning to continue splashing cold water on the new monkeys. Their actions could only be considered stupid and pointless if the scientists decided to stop plashing cold water on the new monkeys. Therefore, the simplistic moral of the story is slightly flawed in my opinion. The real lesson of the story is — we should always question the customs and traditions we inherit from our predecessors and try to figure out why things are the way they are. It is always better to know why we do the things we do, rather than blindly follow old customs and traditions. We are all products of our environment and upbringing. All throughout our lives, we are shaped by the world around us — by the families who raise us, the schools that educate us, the people we meet, and the experiences we gather along the way. During the various stages of our lives – from childhood to adolescence to adulthood to old age, our understanding of the world gradually evolves. Bit by bit, our worldview is sculpted by our relationships, our environments, and the cultures and places we live in. Along the way, we often try to answer life’s big questions: Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? For centuries, philosophers, scholars, scientists and different religions have attempted to answer these profound questions, offering different theories, which have been passed down through generations. We most often embrace those answers without question, and very seldom do we pause to examine those answers? Many of us accept strict religious teachings imposed upon us without question, rarely challenging the traditions and rituals we've inherited. But, in today’s rapidly changing world, it’s more important than ever to reflect critically on whether those age-old religious doctrines and customs still hold relevance.