How company policy is formed.

[Arbtech Tree Services]

Picture 5 monkeys placed in a cage. A new community is formed. From the ceiling of the cage hangs a bunch of bananas. A stepladder is placed under the bananas. As the first eager monkey rushes up the ladder, a firehose knocks him off and hoses down all the monkeys. Shocked, they sit back and regroup. Later another moneky tries, with the same result. It make take repeated attempts by each monkey before they become conditioned to not climb the ladder.

 

At some point, the lesson has been learned by this closed culture and controls how they respond as a community. Then one monkey forgets and steps onto the ladder. But the firehose doesn’t have time to react. The other four monkeys grab the offender and beat him senseless. They’ve learned that in this society, you don’t climb the ladder.

 

Now the process of attrition and replacement in the society begins. One of the original monkeys is removed and a new monkey is added to the group. He spies the bananas and leaps onto the ladder, only to be dragged down and beaten by the rest of the group. After several attempts, the new monkey learns.

 

Another original monkey is replaced with a new monkey. And the same process follows. Then another and another and another. Soon we have a group of five monkeys who’ve never been soaked by the firehose, but won’t climb the ladder. This learned behavior was socialized into the group over time.

 

It no longer matters how many generations of monkeys follow. The new behavior is that a monkey climbing the ladder will be dragged off and beaten. None of the monkeys in the cage has ever been knocked off the ladder with a firehose. None have been soaked down. They don’t know what the consequence is because it’s been replaced by group behavior. They can’t remember being soaked. They don’t know why they do what they do. The accepted norm for this closed community is to beat anyone who tries to climb the ladder.

 

And that is how Company policy is formed

 

P.S. This was an actual experiment.

[bobh]

And unfortunately the bananas went rotten many years ago but the monkeys still try to get them. More group conditioning!

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Arbtalk mobile app

[felixthelogchopper]

You've missed the bit where 4 of the monkeys try to crawl up the backside of the lead monkey.

[skyhuck]

Picture 5 monkeys placed in a cage. A new community is formed. From the ceiling of the cage hangs a bunch of bananas. A stepladder is placed under the bananas. As the first eager monkey rushes up the ladder, a firehose knocks him off and hoses down all the monkeys. Shocked, they sit back and regroup. Later another moneky tries, with the same result. It make take repeated attempts by each monkey before they become conditioned to not climb the ladder.

 

At some point, the lesson has been learned by this closed culture and controls how they respond as a community. Then one monkey forgets and steps onto the ladder. But the firehose doesn’t have time to react. The other four monkeys grab the offender and beat him senseless. They’ve learned that in this society, you don’t climb the ladder.

 

Now the process of attrition and replacement in the society begins. One of the original monkeys is removed and a new monkey is added to the group. He spies the bananas and leaps onto the ladder, only to be dragged down and beaten by the rest of the group. After several attempts, the new monkey learns.

 

Another original monkey is replaced with a new monkey. And the same process follows. Then another and another and another. Soon we have a group of five monkeys who’ve never been soaked by the firehose, but won’t climb the ladder. This learned behavior was socialized into the group over time.

 

It no longer matters how many generations of monkeys follow. The new behavior is that a monkey climbing the ladder will be dragged off and beaten. None of the monkeys in the cage has ever been knocked off the ladder with a firehose. None have been soaked down. They don’t know what the consequence is because it’s been replaced by group behavior. They can’t remember being soaked. They don’t know why they do what they do. The accepted norm for this closed community is to beat anyone who tries to climb the ladder.

 

And that is how Company policy is formed

 

P.S. This was an actual experiment.

 

I don't believe it was ever an actual experiment.

[JLA Arborists]

You've missed the bit where 4 of the monkeys try to crawl up the backside of the lead monkey.

 

There's always 'that monkey' who end the day a bit browner lol

[TGB]

I don't believe it was ever an actual experiment.

I can well believe it. Humans have done and do do far worse things to animals in the name of science, 'bettering' human life & understanding what could be taken for granted. But a few would still rather carry out the experiment/s, to the detriment/health/life span of the fauna and flora that surrounds.

[treequip]

Its complete garbage, based on fragments of various research.

 

Just another example of the internet propagating rubbish for the gullible.

[TGB]

And that might also be true.

On the other hand, I've a friend who did sociology at Oxford, (she got a first with honours). During her second year, she did quite a lot of cutting into various brains. Some of them dead but some of them alive.

 

The live brains belonged mainly to monkeys & dogs and some other animals. The outcome for each of these experiments is already widely known and accepted. But it was felt by the tutoring staff, that the student wouldn't believe past studies, if it were not performed in person by each individual student. So year after year, the same precedures, are being repeated, simply because that is the way it's been done in the past.

 

There is nothing more to learn from said experiments, that can not be learned from books and published papers. But the tutors believe that, if you've done it yourself, you're more likely to believe accompanying course journals and papers.

 

Note. And now someone will point out that 'we' do practicals for our tickets. But even as a veggie, I don't view trees and the like as sentient beings.

Edited May 14, 2014 by TGB

[doobin]

And that might also be true.

On the other hand, I've a friend who did sociology at Oxford, (she got a first with honours). During her second year, she did quite a lot of cutting into various brains. Some of them dead but some of them alive.

 

 

 

I call bullshit. Sociology is a 'soft' degree option. If anyone is capable of dissecting dead/live brains and interpreting the results thereof then they'd be studying brain surgery.

 

There's no way they'd waste even a dead brain on a sociology student.

[TGB]

She's currently working in physiatrics and studying the effects of head trauma.