Much has been made of a phenomenon called the “hundredth monkey effect,” which Wikipedia describes thus:
“The hundredth monkey effect 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 story behind this supposed phenomenon originated with Lawrence Blair and Lyall Watson in the mid-to-late 1970s, who claimed that it was the observation of Japanese scientists. One of the primary factors in the promulgation of the story is that many authors quote secondary, tertiary or post-tertiary sources who have themselves misrepresented the original observations.”
The story goes that one Macaque learned to overcome the problem of ingesting dirt and grit on raw sweet potatoes by washing them in the ocean. Other monkeys took up the practice until, when the hundredth did, the practice suddenly swept through the colony and not only that. It also suddenly and magically appeared among Macaques on other islands, separated by ocean.
Well, the story turns out to be apocryphal and an embellishment of facts, etc. But it’s a theory with legs and still persuades a lot of people today, apocryphal or not.
It has been followed by observations from some meditators that it only takes a small percentage of the population to take up a new way of seeing or doing things (I seem to recall the figure of one percent being mentioned) before the behavior races through society.
I’m neither a primatologist nor a social anthropologist nor any other such thing, but I do believe, just the same, that human beings do follow the lead of social innovators. We talk about fads and fashions, trends and manias and all of these are set in motion by trend-setters or leaders of opinion.
Therefore for me an event such as Stephen Bassett’s World Disclosure Day does not have to have been seen or noticed by a huge percentage of the population. It only has to have been seen or noticed by a good cross-section of opinion-makers and trend-setters.
While I can’t prove it, I do believe that once a new idea enters the public consciousness, curiosity aids its spread and I’m firmly convinced that “Disclosure” of the extraterrestrial presence has entered the public consciousness.
Last night to relax from a hard day’s work, I watched an episode of Ancient Aliens. Since the series started, there has been a shift in the way the “experts” were talking. There was no longer a tentativeness. It had been replaced with a comfort in discussing the subject of extraterrestrials, an ease that had been absent before.
In the same way, I think we’ll see an ease with which “Disclosure” will be discussed and it won’t be necessary for the whole tribe to have been exposed to the coverage of the subject. I predict that the subject will spread like wildfire among the literature population just as innovations in Macaque behavior, like washing sweet potatoes, was said to have spread.
The galactics are doing what they need to do to see that Disclosure occurs. Our leaders are doing what they need to do or are not. They seem to have proved unable to bring the ship in, so to speak, pun intended. But we have also done what we needed to do and could do much, much more.
World Disclosure Day is over. Thanks to Stephen Bassett and everyone who joined him and participated in getting the word around. But let’s not stop there. Let’s continue to push for Disclosure and hope that some version of the hundredth monkey effect actually does hold and that the idea of Disclosure now sweeps through society.
Even if that does not move the date for Disclosure ahead a single day, it will implant the idea in people’s minds and make the event when it does occur ring a bell. It will accustom people to thinking that this event was expected, others are not alarmed at the prospect, but actually welcome it and want it to happen, and that it in itself is a good thing.
Anything we can do to prepare the ground for Disclosure, to lessen apprehensions, and to leave the impression in people’s minds that something good for the planet is occurring will pay dividends when the actual event occurs.
So thanks from us at the 2012 Scenario to those who phoned the President, made or mounted videos, got the word out, and showed that something wonderful this way comes. You’ll see the fruits of your labors soon enough and I’m quite confident that you’ll look upon them and find that they were a good thing.