Hundredth Monkey

by Ken Keyes Jr.

There is no cure for nuclear war -- only PREVENTION!

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Philosophy, Spirituality, History, Animals, Science

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ken Keyes, Jr. (1921-1995) must have been part of the reason why the cold war ended in 1989. This book, The Hundredth Monkey was published in 1982 at the height of nuclear arm armaments build up between the USA and the former USSR.

I should know. I graduated from my first college degree – a paramedical course - in 1984 and when I went back to our family’s house in Quezon City, our bathroom wall was fully plastered with all these posters and articles about the impending nuclear doom. Since the college where I just graduated from was run by apolitical Jesuit priests and my course had nothing to do with politics, I just did not know how to react to those information. I just wanted to work, earn a living, marry my girlfriend and start my own family. In short, and this is a late confession, I did not do anything to contribute to the end of the cold war. I did not even pray or contribute to the collective consciousness that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall. When it happened, I was already 25 years old and already working while finishing my second college degree and all I remembered now was that I was flipping this newly-arrived coffee book in the university’s library showing all the colorful and huge pictures about the fall of that wall.

If I only knew about this book and I had money to spend, I would have heeded what Keyes was suggesting: buy copies of this and distribute to my friends. This book is based on the idea of hundredth monkey effect which is a supposed phenomenon in which a learned behavior spreads instantaneously from one group of monkeys to all related monkeys once a critical number is reached. By generalization it means the instantaneous, paranormal spreading of an idea or ability to the remainder of a population once a certain portion of that population has heard of the new idea or learned the new ability. The study originated in Japan where a group of scientists observed this behavior in Makaka fuscata monkeys that in 1952 were abundantly living in the island of Koshima among other nearby islands. They were fed with boiled sweet potato dropped on the sand. They liked the potato but they hated the dirt. One young monkey learned to wash the potato in the nearby stream. Other monkeys learned from him. When the 100th monkey got the trick, the practice became known to the monkeys in the other islands as if the monkeys communicated in a paranormal way.

So, the objective of this book was to help in gathering 100 monkeys, err …human beings to oppose, only by thinking about it, the nuclear build up of both countries and it must have worked since the Berlin Wall fell, the USSR disintegrated and China opened up its economy and hosted the 2008 Olympics.

Now that the whole world is facing a serious threat of Global Terrorism, I think somebody should rewrite a similar book since this felt quite dated now and Keyes is already dead. However, the idea still stays: if we all collect our thoughts into stopping the evil, regardless in which side you belong, then there is nothing impossible.

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was young this made me real hopeful. My little lifestyle changes might unleash some kinda avalanche of change, as if that would happen pretty naturally, without too much strife-filled work.

[TAP]

In conclusion: nuclear war is bad.

[Avel Rudenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, sweet and to the point. If every Earthling were to read this thin book, the world will change for the better. Covers so many points that could improve the human experience. Sadly it's all in "theory." Nothing is ever going to change, is it? Be the change you want to see. Yes, we are all but dust in the wind, and evil is indwelling in all of us, we need a spiritual cure for the human journey collective, we have all been lied to and poisoned, we have to fess up and admit that NOW is the time to make things better and to set things straight. This book also confronts the "confines" of human thought with the nuclear age. It's amusing, though, nonetheless, with little foreboding monkeys in the margin of the pages hinting at the destruction a nuclear war might bring. Idealistic, this book hopes to accomplish at least an awareness of what policies such as mutually assured destruction might hold for us in the future. Crime is not the answer, peace is. Love solves all issues in the greater scheme of things. We are all energy beings. This is a great book because it makes you compare monkeys and people in their thinking... you wonder, if a large group of monkeys can finally come to a conclusion, why not people? This is a book against the use of nuclear power and, of course, nuclear weapons. It is based upon a phenomenon observed that when a critical amount of monkeys began using a certain tool, that skill was automatically transferred to the rest of the species - even if the other monkeys lived far away and in isolation. It is a controversial thoery of evolution which boarders on the spontaneous. In the book 'The Hundredth Monkey', Ken Keyes applies the theory to humans; in this case, if enough humans decide that nuclear power and nuclear arms are bad, then automatically everyone in the world will come to that same conclusion. Although it sounds like 'wishful thinking', until the Hundreth Monkey phenomenon is disproved, it will hold to its sliver of light. While I agree that nuclear power and nuclear weapons are far too dangerous for us to be tinkering with, I do support space exploration. If the public did not prevent NASA from using nuclear-powered space conveyance, we could be making leaps and strides into the galaxy; The main problem with standard long-distance space travel for humans is that it takes too much rocket-fuel, and carrying it out of our atmosphere becomes an impasse. With nuclear-powered rockets, a space vehicle could be fully powered for many years, making long-distance space travel not just possible, but most probable. I'll leave you with this thought, "Impossible" is a word only found in the dictionary of fools - Napoleon.

[Robert Zimmermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, simple, to the point. No one could ask anything else out of a book. The message that we are all in danger of being involved in the first (and would be only) nuclear war in history, a war that would bring the end to everything as we know it, is a punch in the face to anyone who reads this book. There is fluff anywhere in this book. The message is clear. The call for the world to united under one opinion to step away from the looming man-made Armageddon is what Keyes wants everyone to understand and he does it well. The information in this book is backed up by leading experts on the material and isn't just the ranting of someone with a typewriter. Pick up a copy of this book, or find it online (it's free for anyone to reproduce, which makes it even more intriguing, however you obtain it don't take it too lightly just because the Cold War is "over." We can all benefit by having a global consciousness to solve whatever threat to civilization arises.

[Maria Fledgling Author Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the greatest books on nuclear consciousness ever written.

[James Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books attempts to raise the conscious awareness of individuals in regards to nuclear weapons. It captures the destruction of producing these deadly weapons, from exposure to radiation and to potential fatal cancer diagnoses in the future. The book purports that their is enough nuclear weapons to annihilate every homo sapien on earth, but we are brainwashed into believe more nuclear warheads keep us safe from our foes. This book seeks to charge every individual with a consciousness to love, peace, and tolerance, in an attempt to eliminate nuclear weapons. It was a fun and extremely quick read. It is worth your time.

Dr. James A. Williams
Author of From Thug to Scholar

[Moments of Kabir · Rating 5 out of 5]

What you can gather from the book is......

Chris Brown wrote, "Biologists Observe Evidence of Dream State Communications.
(portions of Ken Keyes book follow)

The story of the Hundredth Monkey.


Written from memory by Christopher A. Brown 12/19/02 from a reading of the original book produced by the team of biologists studying the Macaca Fuscata on Yoshimi island in the 1950’s.


The bios had been watching the monkeys for many years and had come to know them so well that they had names for them. One year there was a tremendous period of storms lasting over three months. The monkeys inhabited a valley that mouthed at the sea in a cove. There was a wide floodway that emptied near the center of the cove.
On one side of the cove there was large stand of trees bearing fruit that was the major food source for the monkeys. That side had no water. The other side had a spring and some fruit trees but not as much food generally.
It had been very dry and most of the monkeys were spending their nights on the side with the spring so water was available in the morning. later they would cross the small valley and harvest fruit to return later in the day for water.
One night the storms began with a exceedingly heavy downpour. So much rain fell that the monkeys could not cross in the morning to the side with food. The monkeys searched out what food they could find. This was not the most plentiful time of year. The biologists worried about the large population on the side with little food and projected that the food would not last long.
After about two weeks the monkeys were starving and the rain continued every few days or so keeping the flood channel 2 to 3 feet deep and flowing 15 to 20 mph. In this period the bios had decided to break their primary rule. To feed the monkeys interfering with the validity of their research. They reasoned they had been their for years and learned most of what was valuable about the behavior of their subjects while watching with telescopes from their floating barge blinds just beyond the gentle waves. They were able to see well enough to tell individuals apart and had developed names for them to distinguish them in their notes. They had become attached to their subjects and had affection for them. This sentiment overcame the strict scientific attitude of no interference and it was decided to help the monkeys to survive.
Sweet potatoes had been ordered up for the bios because they kept well and there were many on hand. A method of delivery had been devised that kept the bios hidden and actually provided a new type of observational study of the monkeys. In the night a raft was dispatched from a barge and taken into the mouth of the fresh water outlet. Beaching in fresh water flow, the bags of sweet potatoes would be dipped in the fresh water to remove what human smell could be washed away. The potatoes were then thrown by the bios onto the sand, spreading them out providing opportunity for the diverse group to be separate in the discoveries of the food in the hopes to reduce squabbling. When the wet potatoes hit the sand and rolled the sand stuck to them thickly.
The monkeys on the side with plentiful food still had plenty. A week or two went by and the bios watched the monkeys gather and eat the potatoes. They did not like the sand on them. Some nights it was raining still and they were washed on one side. The monkeys enjoyed them more. Around this time the routine of waking up in the middle of the night became tiresome and everyone was taking turns. The heavy rainfall gathered on the wide flat beach and formed a puddle during one particularly heavy rain. The puddle broke over the edge of the fresh water creek flowing to the ocean lowering the average 2 foot bank and created an eddy area where the bios could get closer to adjacent banks to distribute some of the potatoes. A few days after the potatoes were distributed there the first potatoes was washed.
One morning a baby female monkey with her aunt was near the fresh water eddy handling a sandy potatoes. The baby went down the easy slope to the fresh water and rinsed it off before eating it. The bios had several observation barges and one had a diagonal view upstream to the eddy. Through the powerful telescope they could see the baby enjoyed the clean potato much more than the gritty one. This continued for over a week.
Suddenly one morning the aunt, after the baby female washed her potato, took hers to the fresh water and followed the actions of the baby. Within a day or two her mate had mimicked the behavior. After a week and a half the practice had spread to the extended family of perhaps 15 to 20 monkeys. Slowly over the next 3 weeks up to 70 or 80 monkeys were washing potatoes in fresh water. The bios were having no trouble counting the monkeys involved with the practice until the numbers reached this point. They did their best comparing notes and they moved a barge to give a better view of an up stream area where a few monkeys had taken potatoes to eat. Around this time it was decided to distribute most of the potatoes nearer the ocean so they could observe and count the monkeys who were washing the potatoes better.
Sometime just before this the monkeys on the other side were beginning to starve. They had depleted all of the food growing naturally there and the bios had no trouble in deciding to break their rule a second time. One had decided to leave the island and explain to a higher authority why they needed such an increase in potatoes. They explained that they had garnered all the usable information they could from the monkeys over the last for or five years when the monkeys were living in a natural state and that there was a new opportunity to study the learning structures in the community of monkeys by feeding them. Larger quantities of potatoes were delivered.

(note) In the original book telling this story there was a break from the account of the monkeys behavior to note that there was a distance of perhaps three hundred feet between the two banks of the fresh water creeks and that the monkeys could not see each other or did not even pay any attention to the monkeys on the other side. Only in the upstream areas where the channel was narrower did the monkeys even notice their counterparts on the opposite banks. There was a mention that predators existed in the thicker vegetation and the monkeys liked to stay in the open near between few trees for sanctuary if needed. It was stated in this portion that because of what happened next that the bios realized that the retelling of the story, as it had happened, might be questioned due to the possibility that the monkeys on one side had learned from watching the monkeys on the other. The original story emphasized that the monkeys on one side almost never even noticed the monkeys on the other side. It was speculated that the monkeys could not see well at those distances. This realization contributed to the bios decision to distribute the potatoes closer to the ocean to improve the counting of the potato washing. In the beginning they had worried that the monkeys that rarely spent time by the ocean might notice the barges floating at the back edge of the waves while collecting potatoes nearer the ocean. it was also stated that the fresh water channel widened some making it very unlikely that monkeys near the ocean could see at all, monkeys on the other side.

At a point when about 90 monkeys were washing potatoes in fresh water the original baby monkey to first wash its potato went to the ocean to do do. It was speculated by the bios that the move of the potato distribution took the baby monkey away from its area of easy access to the fresh water and forced the baby to go to the ocean to rinse its potato. The bios noticed that the baby relished its potato greatly after rinsing in salt water. A few days later after washing the potato in salt water the aunt noticed the increased pleasure of the baby eating somewhat more potato than it had and going back and forth to the ocean for rinsing. the aunt again learned from the baby female and followed her to the ocean to rinse her food.
The learning spread quicker, the count the bios had been struggling to keep was approaching 100. At this time the monkeys on the other side were still eating sandy potatoes. One morning all of the monkeys on the side where the feeding began went to the ocean to rinse their potatoes. A few days later the all of the monkeys on the other side did the same.
the bios were astounded and immediately documented independent of the funding source what they had observed and wrote the original book titled, “the Hundredth Monkey” because by their very best count it was right at 100 when all of the monkeys on the side first fed began to rinse their food in fresh water. the bios noted that for a time prior to that a number of mostly older monkeys did not learn to wash potatoes at all even though they had tasted the food washed in fresh water."

A friend of Mr. Browns, (over a decade ago) insisted that he read another account of the Hundredth Monkey. It was written by the team of biologists referred to in this account. The story was a little different but basically the same. The one important thing left out in this account was the fact that one day the monkeys woke up and they ALL were washing the potatoes.

If monkeys can do this it is logical to assume that we can do it better, more completely in a larger variety of ways.

What if the group had NO conscious awareness or control over the information? What would control the sharing of information? Compulsions? Is this why our society is out of control?

To check the story out that Mr. Brown shares, visit:
http://truthasaur.com/psychology/100t...

[Tabatha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't the one I was thinking of, but he did reference it. I think I was looking for Lifetide by Lyall Watson which goes into the Hundredth Monkey theory. This one is charmingly dated. I love the way he stresses, as if it were a surprise, that radiation is bad for you! It can cause cancer! Well it's been about 21 years since this was written. Since the dangers of nuclear war are well-known and feared, perhaps this book did what it was supposed to do. Although we haven't completely disarmed yet, maybe this book did reach the hundredth monkey.
I feel like I should now mail this to India or Pakistan. North Korea?

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve carried this book since 1984ish—moving with it, keeping it on my nightstand. I’ve read parts over the years, maybe all of it once long ago, but today I read it through. It connected in different ways, with reminders of who I am and want to be “I may crystallize my mind against what you do or say and fail to notice your good intentions...which usually are just like mine! Even if you drop a bomb on me your purpose is to settle arguments—create peace! These are good intentions—just like mine! You just need a more effective way to realize your positive intentions!”

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking back across the years at some of what has happened since this book was first published in 1982 - including Chernobyl; the rise in the number of cancer cases; the ozone depletion - the predictions are frighteningly accurate.

[Sofie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This kind of inspired me to become more politically aware, but I am not convinced of the hundredth monkey theory. Collective consciousness makes perfect sense, but the claim that it has magical brainwashing powers sounds like nonsense.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was looking for links in how to approach and avoid despair towards the ecological crisis. I don't feel like I found what I wanted, but the book was presented in a fun way and I can appreciate the cause that brought it forth.

[Jack B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, so far, we haven't had a nuclear war, so maybe this book helped. At the height of the Reagan Cold War era, this book helped me cope.

[Justin Goodman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I delight in old self-help books, and this one is no less delightful than others. A wealthy real estate agent and two-time student of Esalen Institute workshops, Keyes preached his self-styled "Living Love" method of socio-spiritual psychology through mass-printed, self-published self-help books. His work seems best encapsulated by the story arc of his yacht in this Academic Kids biography.

The Hundredth Monkey fits snugly within this context. It's a book focused on the genuine fear of nuclear apocalypse during the Cold War, whose defining moment, for me, is the page that reads: "The bomb is not the real problem- it's only an effect of our attitudes." A sentiment that (despite its genuineness) is the pinnacle of wealthy white Americans talking about international relations. This is only topped by the signs the monkeys, signaling topic breaks, are holding: "nuclear war is bad for the future"; "nuclear war is bad for the world"; "nuclear war is bad for business"; "nuclear war is bad for survival"; "nuclear war is bad for rosy cheeks." It's hard to take its pleas to call your senators seriously, to be frank.

As far as content, it's fine. Nothing unheard of if you're familiar with anything coming out of this tradition (e.g. Alan Watts). Keyes attempts to formalize his ideas into something resembling counseling - my copy was apparently once owned by a center for counseling and psychotherapy - but even in interviews [PDF] this comes across as bland and vague. Even his framework of "addictive programming" is better understood in books actually about addiction like In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction.

It's one of those things which, if it helps you, great. As an enjoyer of watching the self-help schtick reformulate itself to address new audiences though, I find it more fascinating than insightful.

[Hunter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a short and cute anti-nuclear war piece which comes across as rather naive given that the author spends ~1/3rd of the book describing how illogical nuclear war is and then devotes the final ~1/3rd to making an appeal to logic/empathy for reducing nuclear stockpiles. The author fails to recognize the sociopathic greed which urges the American political ruling class to murderously protect the system of global capitalism (upheld in part by nuclear stockpiles and selling arms to third-world countries) which brings them power and is threatened by the existence of non-capitalist states such as the USSR. The argument is that if enough people believe that nuclear war is bad, they will instinctively and collectively end the threat. This will occur via extrasensory perception - the author explicitly references the fake studies of J.B. Rhine! Obviously, ESP is fake. Additionally, the core argument is not necessarily true given that individuals do not possess the same level of power - e.g., the degree of power that a large group of civilians has to enact change does not necessary exceed the degree of power to maintain the status quo (of nuclear stockpiles) of the ruling class.

But, this piece is a good collection of short quotes and statistics on why nuclear war is bad. It emphasizes compassion and has original artwork. Reading this in 2025 is comforting as it feels human and is a nice reminder that the previous generations did not blow everything up.

[Joseph Reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hundredth Monkey by Ken Keyes Jr. Keyes wrote this book in 1982 at the height of the cold war. The book explains the perils of nuclear weapons. Some of these facts are frightening like the several war heads that have gone missing (not including post cold war Soviet war heads) or the radiation that many of us are exposed to from messy production practices. Keyes believes in collective consciousness hence the hundredth Monkey a reference to the collective consciousness experiments on primates where primate learning was supposedly passed island to island without actual contact. So if enough humans realise nuclear weapons are a lose-lose situation we will reach a point where this knowledge is commonplace even in our world leaders and generals. This may seem silly to some but so far diplomacy and disaster have failed to end nuclear proliferation in the 21st century . Keyes has given permission to copy his book hence no copy rights on this book. His wish is that as many people as possible read it and that maybe you will be the hundredth Monkey (the tipping point towards collective consciousness).

[Alex Schulz · Rating 1 out of 5]

What could’ve been a good call to action ends up devolving into “peace and love” “self-growth” nonsense. It’s misdirecting in what it wants to empower, especially built upon the misunderstanding of a debunked phenomenon, and becomes patronizing to reader like myself (especially when one of the final pages asks the reader to donate TEN FUCKING PERCENT of their income to “help us create a safer world” as if the book is an earth shattering revelation). The idea of collective action and an awakening collective consciousness is not new, and outfitted with a proper sociological lens, could’ve been a good read or proper encouragement. But again, because it’s a deluded self-growth book, it misses the mark entirely. Go read (and reprint and disperse) the Black Cat Sabotage Handbook instead of this bullshit.

[Chris Mercado · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a very strange book. I found it among by Dad's collection, and it's been sitting on my bookshelf forever, and finally decided to pick it up and see what it is.

The only positive is that's a very, very quick read. The format is very large text, and often no more than a sentence a page, so you can get through this book during lunch or something.

It could basically be a leaflet or pamphlet warning of the dangers of nuclear war. It was written in the early 80s, so it's outdated, and is very, very preachy. I didn't learn anything new and it wasn't very entertaining. Skip it.

[Amy Kielmeyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beginning to think I have a little dyslexia because I went into reading this thinking it was by Ken Kesey. It is not. It is a call to end nuclear weapons. A good one. I was already of the same mind, but I can see how 80 years ago this might have been an informative read. It's thoughtfully written, short, and to the point. It was cool to read it now, with all the history behind us, but also in the present political climate - interesting to see what's changed and what hasn't.

[Morgan Dunaway · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very simple book and although it is dated I still believe its overall message was important. The language although simple painted a clear picture of how we as humans need to understand that using nuclear weapons is a disservice to the sanctity of human life and that world peace is(should be) possible.

[Sara Fraser · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book contained relatively interesting commentary regarding nuclear power/ war. It was written similarly to a PSA/ propaganda piece, which I found a bit silly at times, and made me chuckle. It was a short and easy read, with an interesting concept of the 100th monkey acting as a "tipping point" of influence.

[Ela Sezgin]

This book is my moms that was written in the 80’s about the need for action against nuclear warfare. It’s short, written in big letters, and has pictures with the main point of spreading knowledge. It was interesting to read because we are facing many of the same challenges now and I think a widely produced, easily accessible book like this would beneficial now too

[Eli James Stice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it was nice to emphasize how small bits of political action are important, but in the end the random targets against nuclear energy were really just unnecessary, plus it has plenty of outdated statistics and information. Again though, it’s a good reference and thought-piece for how important you are at making the change with something you believe in.

[Shweta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple yet impactful and factual read for a reader, reading about the consequences of nuclear war. It emphasises why we, as aware individuals/monkeys, must use our voice to stop this nuclear war rhetoric for our own as well as the planet's safety.

[Meg · Rating 2 out of 5]

very weird...but interesting. written in the 80's, this book discusses the dangers of nuclear warfare and how it will be the end of humanity. just silly that 40 years later there are so many more things leading to humankind's impending doom :)

[Brian Carpenter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really rotten when someone writes a really crappy book about a cause your support. Nuclear disarmament can be argued for without disparaging useful nuclear technology. And it certainly can be argued for without kooky appeals to collective consciousness and hippie theories.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going through my stacks of unread books I found this little gem. I have no idea where I found it. It is dated the information is not. Published in 1981.
Nuclear War is Bad. Bottom line.
This little book packs a punch on sustainability and the power of peace for preservation.

[Kate]

Recommended by Planetwalker

[Turquoise Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"we don't live in isolation we are all interconnected" reminds me a lot of my meditation practice and method ... Super trippy book