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by neumann 2669 days ago
That was such an awesome story that I immediately tried to find the source. Unfortunately, all I found was an article and a stack exchange answer arguing that it is made-up by the authors of the book it first appeared in. [0] [1]

Nevertheless, I can come up with a few examples similar behavior in large organizations surrounding processes, workflows and general wisdoms.

[0] http://www.throwcase.com/2014/12/21/that-five-monkeys-and-a-...

[1] https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/a/6859

1 comments

It’s an apocryphal story that became popular with “new age” and personal development crowds to encourage you to not be like the masses. It is endearing and illustrative of a useful truism, but sadly made up to be that way.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundredth_monkey_effect