[sonnyblarney]

The monkeys are passing intelligent learned behaviour - the monks are not.

In the monkeys case - it makes sense they 'follow the herd'. The learned behaviour of their ancestors is saying something: "you're gonna get sprayed with cold water if you do this"

I'd imagine a lot of things get passed on this way, maybe some right some wrong, but I don't think this really helps the 'go your own way' case so much. That we generally follow crowds millions of years into our evolution might indicate that there is indeed wisdom in crowds. Though perhaps it's helpful to realize that they are not always right.