The hundredth monkey effect is a supposed phenomenon in which a behavior or thought spreads rapidly from one group to all related groups once a critical number of initiates is reached. By generalization it means the instantaneous spreading of an idea or ability to the remainder of a population once a certain portion of that population has heard of the new idea or learned the new ability by some unknown process currently beyond the scope of science. The story behind this supposed phenomenon originated with Lawrence Blair and Lyall Watson in the mid-to-late 1970s, who claimed that it was the observation of Japanese scientists. One of the primary factors in the promulgation of the story is that many authors quote secondary, tertiary or post-tertiary sources who have themselves misrepresented the original observations.
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Famous quotes containing the words hundredth, monkey and/or effect:
“Grinder, who serenely grindest
At my door the Hundredth Psalm,”
—Charles Stuart Calverley (1831–1884)
“Madam, you’re making history. In fact, you’re making me and I wish you’d keep my hands to yourself.”
—S.J. Perelman, U.S. screenwriter, Arthur Sheekman, Will Johnstone, and Norman Z. McLeod. Groucho Marx, Monkey Business, a flirtatious remark while trying to make love to Lucille Briggs (Thelma Todd)
“Governing today means giving acceptable signs of credibility. It is like advertising and it is the same effect that is achieved—commitment to a scenario.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)