Two monkey stories. First up, Feynman on 'the feeling of confusion':

The confusion's that we're all apes that are kinda stupid, trying to figure out how to put two sticks together to reach the banana, and we can't quite make it.

I like these stories (like the importance of stupidity in scientific research) because I can cherry-pick the answer I want out of "reason for struggle: 1) am stupid 2) am just human." A happier interpretation is that, regardless of whether you're Richard Feynman or Daffy Duck, you're always going to be a monkey with two sticks trying to reach a banana. Except for Daffy, now I think of it. Bad example. (If I can't tell ducks from monkeys I really am in trouble...)

Second-up, the possibly apocryphal monkey trap: a banana/some peanuts/thing that monkeys find tasty in a jar. Monkey puts hand in, but can't remove fist holding tasty item. Apparently filmed by National Geographic at some point, but who knows if it was set up? Used now as a general purpose allegory for learning to let go of, you know, stuff you need to let go of. But it's been playing on my mind a little recently. In my version, mr. monkey can see the thing through the jar, but that doesn't help: he's hardwired and he can't let go. I can't help but wonder if we're not collectively exactly like that. We can reason whatever way we like about the world and how we should act, but we're hardwired in such a way that we can't let go of the things that'll get us in the end. We can see it clearly, as it happens, but there's absolutely nothing we can do. Cheery thought. Ook!