The 100th Monkey

Japanese monkeys were looked upon by scientists (in the wild) for over 30 years in a row.  Scientists gave the monkeys sweet potatoes to eat in the sand. the monkeys liked the raw sweet taste but hated the dirt. One monkey female, named Imo, found she could wash the sand off in a stream. Imo taught her mother this. Her playmates learned this too.

Only adults that imitated their children learned this trick. Other adults kept eating sandy sweet potatoes.

Let's say that that morning there were 99 monkeys washing sweet potatoes. Let's also say that later that morning, the hundredth monkey learn to wash sweet potatoes. Then something happened. By that evening, almost everyone in the tribe was washing sweet potatoes. The added energy of that hundredth monkey made a ideological breakthrough!

Colonies of monkeys on other islands began washing their sweet potatoes. So it is thought, that when certain critical numbers achieves an awareness, it can be communicated from mind to mind. Even though the exact number differs, this 100th monkey theory means that when a limited number of  / monkeys / people know or think something new, it may not spread mind to mind. But if ONE MORE monkey / person  learns this thing, almost everyone gets it!