A survey - and Five Monkeys in a Cage

As you probably know, I am a student at Brigham Young University.  My major is Construction Management, and my hope is to build energy-self-sufficient homes that fit in to any neighborhood.  I also want to be able to retro-fit homes to become energy-self-sufficient.

As I think about the home I want to build for our family, I consider every aspect of our lives.  I believe that you must consider a large variety of things to decide how big or small your house should be - for example: how big a bedroom should be depends a lot on what kind of furniture you have, how many people will live there, and how many uses it will have.

At our home, we don't use the bathtubs.  Showers reign supreme; bathtubs are useless.  I would much rather use the space given to a tub to enlarge a shower.  In talking to my friends, I find that they often say the same thing.  What about you?  How do you use your bathtub?  Take my survey (on the right column), and help me design a bathroom!  Why do we put bathtubs in every house if they are rarely used?  Maybe because that's the way it's always been done!

What?
When writing something, it is a common mistake to write and rewrite and rewrite the same thing over and over again.  Sometimes it happens because we are distracted, tired, or otherwise not paying attention.  Or maybe we have a word requirement that must fill a page or a number of words that must be met.  But sometimes, we are just faking it, hoping that we sound like we know what we are talking about.

How many times can you repeat yourself without becoming redundant?!

So what?
Like my question about the bath tub, above, often we do things because that's the way we've always been told to do it.  When  writing a 5-paragraph essay, something gets said at least 3 times.  But like all people, sometimes we miss the point if it is said only once.  Maybe we need the Department of Redundancy Department!  Maybe the readers, too, are distracted!  Or maybe that's the way it's always been done, so we are just used to it!

Now What?
My husband tells the story of Five Monkeys in a Cage - You put five monkeys in a cage, hang some bananas in the center, and add a ladder.  Of course, the monkeys head for the bananas, but when they get near the ladder, the caretaker sprays them down with a cold water hose.  The monkeys soon learn that they should not get near the ladder & just ignore the bananas because they don't like getting sprayed with the water.  Once all five monkeys won't go near the ladder, you remove one monkey & replace it with a new one.  The new monkey heads straight for the ladder, but all the other monkeys drag it away, & will even beat it up to teach it not to go near the ladder (they really don't like the spray of water!!).  Pretty soon, the new monkey won't go near the ladder, & life is normal.  Remove & replace a second monkey.  Again, the others (including the first new monkey) will teach the newest monkey not to go near the ladder.  Eventually, do the same thing with all the old monkeys & you have a cage full of five new monkeys who have never been sprayed with water, but will not go near the ladder - - because that's the way they've always done it!

What do we do every day that is done that way because that's the way it has always been done?  Do we teach others to do things in a particular way because that's the way we were taught?  Do we repeat ourselves in speaking or writing because some past teacher told us we need to write that way?

Do we do something a particular way because that's the best way?  Or because we are like those five monkeys in a cage?

So, why are there so many bathtubs in our houses?!  Let's look at why we do what we do, & wonder if there is a better way to do it instead!