Back in the 1960's (when scientists were allowed to do all kinds of crazy things), behavioral scientists conducted an experiment where they placed five monkeys in a room with a stepladder and a bunch of bananas hanging from the ceiling. The monkeys quickly figured out they could climb the ladder and eat the bananas, but every time the monkeys got near the stepladder, the scientists would douse the entire room with ice cold water. You can guess what that generated: angry monkeys. Soon, none of the monkeys would go near the ladder.
Then, the scientists replaced one of the monkeys with a new monkey, who had not been subject to the blasts of water. The first thing he did was make a beeline for the ladder, and all the other monkeys beat him up. He didn't know why they were beating him up, but he quickly learned one thing: no going near the ladder. Gradually, the scientists replaced the original monkeys with new monkeys until they had a group of monkeys who had never been doused with cold water, yet they would still attack any monkey that approached the ladder without knowing why.
My point? Its too bad we can't vote in an entirely new Congress, huh? ( =
Monkey story courtesy of The Productive Programmer by Neal Ford.
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