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what is the Shakespear line? 'there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosopy.' something like that. anyway, concerning humans, I think it is important to look back at primates: There is a certain species of monkey that lives on two different islands. The two groups of monkeys that live on the two islands are just alike, the same species, the same basic environments, and hence, the same basic lifestyles, but the two islands are far apart, and the monkeys don’t swim, so there is never any contact between the two groups. One day, on the first island, one of the monkeys somehow makes a discovery that by taking a piece of the fruit which is their main food down to the water and so aking it, it becomes much easier to peel. This is a wonderful discovery, a real breakthrough. Soon, the other monkeys on the island begin to catch on, and learn this helpful new technique. Now, although this species of monkeys may have lived for genera tion upon generation on these two islands without making this discovery, now that it has been done, by the time the hundredth monkey on the first island has learned it, there will be monkeys doing it on the second island as well. the allegedly REAL story: The Japanese monkey, Macaca Fuscata, had been observed in the wild for a period of over 30 years. In 1952, on the island of Koshima, scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand. The monkey liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes, but they found the dirt unpleasant. An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could solve the problem by washing the potatoes in a nearby stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her playmates also learned this new way and they taught their mothers too. This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists. Between 1952 and 1958 all the young monkeys learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to make them more palatable. Only the adults who imitated their children learned this social improvement. Other adults kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes. Then something startling took place. In the autumn of 1958, a certain number of Koshima monkeys were washing sweet potatoes -- the exact number is not known. Let us suppose that when the sun rose one morning there were 99 monkeys on Koshima Island who had learned to wash their sweet potatoes. Let's further suppose that later that morning, the hundredth monkey learned to wash potatoes. THEN IT HAPPENED! By that evening almost everyone in the tribe was washing sweet potatoes before eating them. The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough! But notice: A most surprising thing observed by these scientists was that the habit of washing sweet potatoes then jumped over the sea...Colonies of monkeys on other islands and the mainland troop of monkeys at Takasakiyama began washing their sweet potatoes. Thus, when a certain critical number achieves an awareness, this new awareness may be communicated from mind to mind. Although the exact number may vary, this Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon means that when only a limited number of people know of a new way, it may remain the conscious property of these people. But there is a point at which if only one more person tunes-in to a new awareness, a field is strengthened so that this awareness is picked up by almost everyone! ********************** I am more of a believer in the 'small circle' of change. if I, as an individual behave and live my life in a certain positive way; then maybe, just maybe... I can influence the small circle of people around me to also behave in a 'humane' way. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% the other version I heard, a bit more cynical ended with something like: by the time the 100th monkey learned to was the potato; the first one forgot why they were doing it; the first monkey stopped washing his potatos, ... gradually all of the monkeys forgot to wash the potatos and they certainly forgot WHY they were washing the potatos in the first place; they ended up eating the fucking sandy potatoes again. seem familiar? ******************* why the fuck do humans repeat the history of war over and over again? why the fuck do some humans spread much much more suffering and hate than love?? OK, back to the music. ( -: peace.

sken sez: "if god didn't intend for us to eat PEOPLE,why did he make US taste like CHICKEN?" he-he... hmmm... (to the best of my knowledge) i cannot confirm or deny the latter part of that statement. as fer life... i may be in the minority (on this board)... but i'm a firm believer in the truth of the bible... not the "for-profit" tv preachers, or the "everybody-interprets-it-in-their-own-way" belief... but i believe in an adherance to, and study of, the book. nothing added to or taken away. philosophy/philosophers...? methinks that sometimes "educated" men try to come up with an answer to an equation with too many unknowns.

skenisahen What is the porpoise of life? Couldn't resist... I don't think it is a stopping of thinking, there is always that stirring around. However I think it is the stepping back from the always active "monkey mind" or the analyzing, critical mind and just observing it and then or else getting caught totally involved in the moment and the thinking evaporates. "Be Here Now" as Baba Ram Dass said. I get there through meditation, gardening, physical work, hiking, running, kayaking, immersion in the natural world, playing music and listening and dancing to music, especially the Good Old Grateful Dead. Other people have their ways. Some call it Zen, some call it flow, some don't call it at all. Chop wood, carry water. Listen to the music play. Peace. Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) Walt Whitman-Song of Myself

hackster: I always thought that bumper sticker should say: "if god didn't intend for us to eat PEOPLE, why did he make US taste like CHICKEN?" Hal R: Those are some fantastic quotes. I've been a big fan of the "journey" as opposed to the destination but I hadn't thought about the stoppage of thinking angle. Thats is a great point. | I'm just a, well...porpoise. |

the great samuel clemens (mark twain) once said-"sacred cows make the best hamburger." and, seen on a bumper sticker once- "if god didn't intend for us to eat animals, why did he make them taste like meat?" mmm, mmm good.

Regarding: Here is an open one: Why does it seem so hard to teach people how to love one another or at the very least, peacefully co-exist? Because of greed, hatred and ignorance and people's grasping and attachment to them. and because they have not realized the following "The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer-- they think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer." -- Ken Kesey and I tell you, don't get hung up on anything, but stand above, pass on, and be free. --John Thomas what do I know? what would coyote the trickster say? Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) Walt Whitman-Song of Myself

"May I mom the dogface to the banana patch?" “The Omnipotent Grateful Dead!”

chicken is imitating all the other meats. Maybe, just maybe, chickens were last in line but somehow became the bigger attention-drawing whores that they are and now everyone compares the other meats to chicken, when in fact the other meats were here first.

Hackster: That, my friend, is awesome. You always come through with one of those 'koan'-like sayings. Thanks! | I'm just a, well...porpoise. |

All generalizations are false.