Bad Memory about Racial Memory

[scholz]

I am teaching a Critical Thinking class, using Schick and Vaughn's great book "How to Think about Weird Things". There is a discussion about the so-called 100th monkey, and the gist of the discussion is that there never was a 100th monkey. The story sounded plausible, so no one checked up on the claim, until recently.
I then discussed another sort of legendary claim about birds. The claim goes that when they put new power lines up (somewhere) various birds tried to land on these perches and were electrocuted on the spot. The next generation of the same species somehow 'knew' not to do this again. The idea of racial memory, similar to the 100th monkey, is supposed to be the explanation.

So my question is: did this mass bird extinction+new behavior ever actually happen?
Does anyone have a reference for either the legend or the reality of this?
I can't seem to find any reference to it at all, here or by googling.

 

[Dancing David]

I am teaching a Critical Thinking class, using Schick and Vaughn's great book "How to Think about Weird Things". There is a discussion about the so-called 100th monkey, and the gist of the discussion is that there never was a 100th monkey. The story sounded plausible, so no one checked up on the claim, until recently.
I then discussed another sort of legendary claim about birds. The claim goes that when they put new power lines up (somewhere) various birds tried to land on these perches and were electrocuted on the spot. The next generation of the same species somehow 'knew' not to do this again. The idea of racial memory, similar to the 100th monkey, is supposed to be the explanation.

So my question is: did this mass bird extinction+new behavior ever actually happen?
Does anyone have a reference for either the legend or the reality of this?
I can't seem to find any reference to it at all, here or by googling.

This sounds like some bogus Lamarkian evolution.

 

[Athyrio]

i didn't know birds could get electrocuted by perching on wires unless there is a path to the ground.

 

[Crazycowbob]

Sounds questionable to me, as the very premise is highly improbable. A bird sitting on a wire is in no danger at all (unless they're worried about EM fields, but we'll reserve that for another day ). They would either have to touch another wire beyond the first, or put one leg on the wire and the other on the utility pole, both cases are more or less impossible for even fairly large birds. Worst case scenario; a bird manages to land on the transformer in such a way that it creates a path from the hot wire to the ground, but that would require a pretty big bird, and even then, only fry the one bird.

 

[Fnord]

i didn't know birds could get electrocuted by perching on wires unless there is a path to the ground.

To be more precise, the birds would not be electrocuted unless they perched in such a way as to provide a completed circuit for electricity. Thus, a bird perched on a single wire would not be electrocuted. A bird that came in contact with two wires at the same time could be electrocuted if the current in both wires were at different potentials.

I once watch an eagle glide into high-tension lines. One moment, it was a majestic bird in free flight, then *FLASH* in an instant it became a smouldering corpse plumetting to the ground. It must've banked just before making contact with two of the cables.

Here's a Wikipedia article about the Hundredth Monkey. Enjoy!

 

[scholz]

I am pretty sure it is an urban (rural?) legend, in other words, false. But I am more interested in its source. I think the claim may have been it took place in Africa (in the desert) but I don't recall exactly. Am I the only one who remembers this?

 

[Fnord]

"... I think the claim may have been it took place in Africa (in the desert) but I don't recall exactly..."

I already provided the Wikipedia link that answers your question. The specific text is:

"The story of the "Hundredth Monkey Effect" apparently originated with Lyall Watson in his 1979 book Lifetide. In it he claimed to describe the observations of scientists studying macaques (a type of monkey) on the Japanese island of Koshima in 1952."

Long, long ago, in a land far away...

 

[CapelDodger]

I already provided the Wikipedia link that answers your question. The specific text is:

"The story of the "Hundredth Monkey Effect" apparently originated with Lyall Watson in his 1979 book Lifetide. In it he claimed to describe the observations of scientists studying macaques (a type of monkey) on the Japanese island of Koshima in 1952."

Long, long ago, in a land far away...

As I recall, the magic went out of this story when further research revealed that male adolescent macaques that have lucked-out at home will swim to other islands in search of tail.

Remember "morphic resonance"? That came up about the same time.

 

[Fnord]

Remember "morphic resonance"? That came up about the same time.

Morphic Resonance ... Racial Memory ... Universal Unconscious ... Telepathy ... they all mean the exact same thing:

BUSHLLIT!​

... that uncanny knack for ignorant people (like presidents Bush and Bush) to say or write things that just aren't true. Things like "No new taxes" and "Weapons of Mass Destruction."

 

[scholz]

Fnord, thanks for the Monkey references. I was actually looking for references to the Bird Story. I got enough monkey business.

 

[bruto]

If there's such a thing as racial memory, why do mousetraps still work?

 

[andyandy]

Long, long ago, in a land far away...

how strange! I've actually been there - i didn't realise it was world famous for its monkeys

FWIW there were plenty of monkeys - but i didn't see any washing potatoes....so maybe they've all forgotten

 

[Orangutan]

I dunno, some people spontaneously use the same avatar, Telepathy, maybe?

(Edit, although mine looks better).

 

[Crazycowbob]

I dunno, some people spontaneously use the same avatar, Telepathy, maybe?

(Edit, although mine looks better).

Or maybe just more than one person has an unhealthy obsession over primates, and there are only so many Avatars with primates in them, sooner or later they end up picking the same one, or posting the same picture as theirs. Who knows, depending on the size of the primate obsessed community here, it's possible a fair number of them all have the same Avatar, especially since it's related to a recent news story that I'm sure all the primate obsessed watched...


Monkey lovers