100. The 3 Wise Monkeys have origins in Japanese Kōshin traditions where 3 Sanshi (corpse-worms) acted essentially as spies hidden in the shadows of one’s soul. These Sanshi would sneak out of their respective soul’s shadows every month while they slumbered to tattle to the top god Ten Tei, telling of all the secrets hidden in the shadows of one’s soul in which these worms sequestered themselves. To prevent these worms from tattling, Kōshin people would try to stay awake on the nights their Sanshi were expected to sneak-out. They’d also cast spells to blind, deafen, and silence the Sanshi, hoping to prevent them from provoking punishments from Ten Tei. The 3 spells cast on the Sanshi were known as Mizaru, Kikazaru, and Iwazaru, which respectively translate to see not, hear not, and speak not. Because of the strong similarity of zaru meaning to not and saru meaning monkey- it became popular to depict this pun in the symbolism of what is now known as the 3 Wise Monkeys. However, there may be earlier origins to this symbolism found in a preceding phrase of Confucianism which in abbreviated form encourages people not to look, listen, speak or act in accordance with impropriety. There are also a few other versions of these wise monkeys which feature a fourth monkey. In one, the monkey covers its crotch to symbolize a repression of sexual actions. In another, the fourth monkey alternatively holds its hands over its nose as an aversion to smelling evil. The philosophical implications of this iconography are also echoed in the optimistically oriented Zoroastrian mantra of good thoughts, good words, good deeds, which encourages one to develop a disciplined devotion to an awareness attuned toward that which leads to virtue while averting one’s attention from that which leads one astray. Several other prominent philosophical interpretations have evolved alongside these others, including a colloquial western conception of ignoring things which one might prefer not to have witnessed in a more pragmatic mind your own business proposition, as well as a version in which a series of monkeys shade their eyes to aid sight, cup their ears to assist hearing, and form a hand-funnel around their mouths to vocally project more voluminously. Osho Rajneesh also riffed on alternate ideas to ascribe to this 4-monkey manifestation, expressing an ostensibly pessimistic view of wisdom wherein: the sight of truth can cause ideals of perfection to evaporate into emptiness, the sound of truth can echo in one’s own ears and evict the consoling lies which are so often one’s sole comforting companion, speaking truth can cause a crowd of unconscious men to commit to your condemnation, and even openly displaying one’s own blissful inner truth can cause it to dissolve as it falls flat against the un-gleaming gazes of others. Of course, there’s also the incredible irony in the use of these 3 Wise Monkeys on a series of signs surrounding the area of Los Alamos during the days of the atomic bomb’s development which read, What You See Here, What You Do Here, What You Hear Here, When You Leave Here, Let It Stay Here (à la, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas). The sick irony stems from how Los Alamos originated atom bomb would eventually be dropped on the very nation (Japan) which gave rise to this iconic imagery. Although, when emojis originated in Japan some years later, the 3 monkeys reemerged yet again to symbolize 🙈 embarrassment, 🙉 astonishment, and 🙊 regret. In my lost life, I’d once created my own incarnation of these monkeys, intending to satirize the social norms of wireheads by consolidating them into a singular pseudo-sapien with headphones, VR goggles, a ball gag, and a *squid-kit surrounding its skull. (*squid-kits were a web of wires which externally sensed brainwaves and were antiquated by Neuroconnx chips). This emblem of mine was also reimagined by others, namely- an unnamed visual designer at Mythreum who’d seen my sketch and decided to steal it for submission directly to the board of directors as an alternative corporate logo. It was approved for use in Asian markets and quickly became popular among wireheads as an emblem of their enthusiastic overindulgence in gaming. It was often accompanied with the Mandarin marketing moniker which roughly translates into, If it’s not in the game, it doesn’t exist. (No bombs were deployed on this unnamed designer).
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