The hundredth monkey phenomenon refers to a sudden spontaneous and mysterious leap of consciousness achieved when an allegedly “critical mass” point is reached. The idea of the hundredth monkey phenomenon comes from Dr. Lyall Watson (1938-2008) in his book Lifetide (1979). Watson, who had a Ph.D. in ethology for work done at the London Zoo with Desmond (“The Naked Ape”) Morris, was writing about several studies done in the 1960’s by several Japanese primatologists of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). Watson alleged that the scientists were “reluctant to publish [the whole story] for fear of ridicule.” He wrote that he had “to gather the rest of the story from personal anecdotes and bits of folklore among primate researchers, because most of them are still not quite sure what happened.”
http://skepdic.com/monkey.html
