I once had to help a good friend with a criminology diploma study. I learned a lot about conditioned behaviors, B.F. Skinner, MK Ultra, and the Milgram experiment, to name but a few.  It is not my expert knowledge area, so I actually found it fairly interesting and thought-provoking to study an academic course and syllabus on the subject. Apart from being really worried over the Milgram experiment, a piece that hit resonance with me was this story/experiment. The Fable Conditioning Story Summary The Setup: A group of monkeys (usually 5 or 8) are placed in a room with a ladder leading to a bunch of bananas.   The Punishment: Every time a monkey tries to climb the ladder, the researchers spray the entire group with freezing cold water.   The Conditioning: To avoid the cold spray, the monkeys begin to violently beat up any monkey that attempts to climb. Eventually, no monkey tries to climb.   The Substitution: One by one, the original monkeys are replac...