Monkey see, monkey do? Is it true?

Question

When brother and I were small my great-grandpa would always say to us when we would get into little trouble together, "Monkey see, monkey do, ay?"

Is this true for all of us humans?

Also, can anyone explain better to me what this means? I was never really clear on that, lol.

Answer 1

Monkeys are known for imitating what they see, so basically your great-grandpa was referring to the fact that one of you would follow what the other was doing.

Answer 2

Well it's true for monkeys. And small children. Hopefully we evolve as adult humans! Imitation is natural. As infants, it's how we learn. Our parents or siblings show us how to do things & then we copy them. It's a human instinct. If you make faces at a baby it will start to emulate them. That's why it's important to smile a lot. Children pick up whatever is around them. That's why it's important not to be angry or violent around them, or this is what they learn & carry with them through life.

We still have vestiges of this as adults. Did you ever notice when someone yawns it's almost impossible for you not to yawn after them? Or when you hear someone cough in a crowd & your throat starts to tickle? Or when a woman in a store grabs the last dress off the rack & it makes you want it? We're all connected in some ways & are affected by each other. Smiling & frowning are infectious too. If someone smiles at you isn't it natural to smile back? If they scowl, doesn't it put you in a bad mood?

Answer 3

Many good answers. An added point though. We are, in part at least, the sum of our experiences. Therefore we all imitate what we have been shown starting from learning to communicate as babies to learning social standards and mores to adapt to our present situations. So getting into trouble because others are doing so that you are associated with is base instinct. To rise above it is the point of consciousness and sentience, not to mention philosophy. So "Monkey see, Monkey do" is also an admonition to rise above the easy path of copying others and lean to be a better human being. Of course, many who say it only do so because it was said to them... :P

Answer 4

Look up the word "meme" (pronounced meem). Its basically used to refer to something that people see and copy in a way to connect to or be liked by other people. It's part of basic human social nature to "follow the crowd", monkey see, monkey do is a pretty short and to the point summary of it.

Answer 5

Science has proven that we humans are desendents of monkeys. So when your great-gandpa said that he might have meant that we humans imitate others just as monkeys do, for example, we see a new fashion emerging, atleast most of us try to follow the trend!

Answer 6

The instinct to imitate is so powerful for humans that we even subconsciously imitate mannerisms and expressions from those we live and work closely with. Watch televsion programs lilke Friends or Seinfeld, you can tell that even the actors on long-running shows tend to adopt a style peculiar to that show.

Answer 7

I think it means that if we go against our better judgment and do something just because someone else is, we could be making a monkey of our self

Answer 8

I even have by no capability seen monkey's incredibly try this. I guess in case you place a squirrel named squirrel cage, a canines named woof, and a fairy named honey at the same time they could do it nonetheless. Love, honey

Answer 9

What do you mean by "true"? Does it always happen? No. Do watching and repeating other's actions influence our behavior? Yes. Look up social learning theory to see the research done in that area.

Answer 10

what they mean monkey see monkey do,,,,is that in the wild one monkey gets a stick to get ants in ant hill [they all get sticks and copy eachother] and kids kinda follow this also.if one kids start jumping and running 'most will follow .it just means we all living being 'love learning things...... have a nice day..