In a presentation to the famous TED Talks, primatologist Frans de Waal showed the experiment where two monkeys are both rewarded in sight of the other by being fed.
The first round showed both monkeys being fed grapes, which both seemed to enjoy immensely.
But when one of the monkeys was fed cucumber whilst his erstwhile colleague received fruit again, the monkey offered the less delectable reward was visibly furious.
Indeed it’s probably fair to say that the cucumber receiving monkey went ape, jumping up and down, rattling his plastic fence in a visible rage, squeaking and crying out in protest.
Professor de Waal compared the behaviour shown to be similar to that exhibited by human beings during the Occupy Wall Street movements earlier this year.
“That’s basically the Wall St protest right there,” he said.
It appears the simian 99% now have a face and have created a whole new dimension to the expression ‘monkey business’.
See excerpts of Professor de Waal’s TED talk as well as the miffed monkey’s reactions below.
