The Great Ape

A friend reminded me of a psychology story I once heard of involving apes (I have heard a variety of the apes used in the story.) and a banana. For those of those not familiar with it, the story is about traditions and conditioning. It can be related to many aspects of many of our lives. I can relate it to my corporation. We often do things just because that is what we were taught, or that is because it is the way it has always been done. I often see it in families. I even brought up an example yesterday. Though I would argue that yesterday's example was a positive conditioning and not negative.

I do tend to think of that story and relate it to the negative conditioning that I have seen; most likely due to the fact that the apes repeatedly beat each other up. I have always thought that ignorance breeds ignorance. Children learn from their parents and the society around them. When looking for an example I often find that deeply rooted racism is taught this way. The children were raised to hate people of a different race and do not know any different.

A person is smart, people are dumb. As a whole it is easy to be sucked into that mob mentality. People can be herded just as easily as other animals. Most of the time, the people being herded are weak of will and their own desires. They file mindlessly in line just because there is one.

I am not exempt, I have blindly followed a few people before. I have done things that were horribly difficult just because that was the way it was done before me. It did not matter that I knew of an easier way; I was taught it one way and I will do it that one way. I can say that I try to think thing through. I try to keep an open mind. I can often be found with my hand raised when I think a process is outdated at work. I ask questions about why we are doing the things.

I do not know what makes a person choose to follow or go against the grain. I cannot explain why it is when people gather that as a whole they get dumber. Perhaps it is programmed into us that we behave a certain way when filed into a group. Reprogram.

And then it ends,

Skate