Utopia Myopia

Dr. Spencer J. Condie, associate professor of sociology at Brigham Young University

One of the most fascinating experiments in the field of animal psychology was conducted with a chimpanzee. The chimp was placed in a room with a bunch of bananas. As his mouth began to water while he contemplated his impending feast, a box was placed over the bananas and he was led to an adjoining room for a short period of time.

While the chimp was out of sight, the experimenter then substituted a head of lettuce for the bananas and again covered it with the box. When the chimpanzee returned, he very gleefully scurried across the room and flipped over the box. To his great surprise and dismay, he discovered the lettuce instead of the bananas he had anticipated. He became so incensed with his disappointment that he let out a bloodcurdling shriek and began to tear the lettuce to shreds and then stomp on it, thus rendering it completely inedible.¹

Now the interesting thing about the chimpanzee is that, next to bananas, lettuce is one of his most desired delicacies. In fact, when given a visible choice between the two alternatives, the ordinary chimp is just about as likely to choose lettuce as he is to choose bananas. You see, the only real reason the chimp rejected the lettuce was because his heart had been set on bananas.

A lot of people are like this chimpanzee: they reject the good world in which they live because it isn’t the perfect world they desire. In short, they have “utopia myopia.”