Malcolm Gladwell

Rats are very hardworking. You give them a task, and they will do it ad nauseum. They're happy to just keep getting the job done. They live in little warrens. You put a rat in a maze, it knows exactly what to do, and it's kind of like fine being in a maze. Problem solvers. They're problem solvers. They're sort of cautious about new things.

You talk to any exterminator, it's very hard to get a rat to eat poison. They are very careful about what they eat, what risks they take. Raccoons are extremely disinhibited. They aren't wary at all. A raccoon can live to like 20 in a lab. In the wild, they tend to live two to three years because they're just sort of like, what's that do? And they just like jam their fingers in a socket.

You talk to any exterminator, it's very hard to get a rat to eat poison. They are very careful about what they eat, what risks they take. Raccoons are extremely disinhibited. They aren't wary at all. A raccoon can live to like 20 in a lab. In the wild, they tend to live two to three years because they're just sort of like, what's that do? And they just like jam their fingers in a socket.

It's like, and that's the end of the raccoon. We built the world for rats, but we are functionally raccoons. And so we are dissatisfied with the rat world. But it is the fact that we have the rat world that has kept us from blowing it all up in our face so far.

It's like, and that's the end of the raccoon. We built the world for rats, but we are functionally raccoons. And so we are dissatisfied with the rat world. But it is the fact that we have the rat world that has kept us from blowing it all up in our face so far.

I did a complete 180 on this story. I started thinking that the rat model was a disgrace because I had rats all wrong. I see now it was kind of utopian. Every need could be anticipated, every behavior nudged, every outcome predicted, and every person satisfied. But there is no one animal model for human behavior.

I did a complete 180 on this story. I started thinking that the rat model was a disgrace because I had rats all wrong. I see now it was kind of utopian. Every need could be anticipated, every behavior nudged, every outcome predicted, and every person satisfied. But there is no one animal model for human behavior.

A rat's its own thing, a lab rat's its own thing, raccoons are really their own thing, and we're not one or the other. We're all of the above and something else. But these days, it seems clear. We definitely did ourselves a disservice when we forgot about the raccoon. Sadly, I never got to come face-to-face with a raccoon in reporting this story, but I did get to meet a lab rat.

A rat's its own thing, a lab rat's its own thing, raccoons are really their own thing, and we're not one or the other. We're all of the above and something else. But these days, it seems clear. We definitely did ourselves a disservice when we forgot about the raccoon. Sadly, I never got to come face-to-face with a raccoon in reporting this story, but I did get to meet a lab rat.

Kelly Lambert now studies all kinds of animals in all kinds of places. She's particularly interested in wild animals these days. But Lambert still has a soft spot for the lab rat. When I visited her at the University of Richmond, she took me back into a locked set of rooms. There were signs up that said, quiet, behavioral testing in progress.

Kelly Lambert now studies all kinds of animals in all kinds of places. She's particularly interested in wild animals these days. But Lambert still has a soft spot for the lab rat. When I visited her at the University of Richmond, she took me back into a locked set of rooms. There were signs up that said, quiet, behavioral testing in progress.

And behind one of the doors, a cage with two rats she's been teaching to drive.

And behind one of the doors, a cage with two rats she's been teaching to drive.

I leaned closer to the rat. Lambert seemed to think he was showing an unusual interest in my microphone.

I leaned closer to the rat. Lambert seemed to think he was showing an unusual interest in my microphone.

They're more curious about the mic.

They're more curious about the mic.

Actually, the rat was really grabbing at the mic, pulling it closer to its snout.

Actually, the rat was really grabbing at the mic, pulling it closer to its snout.

It was really weird. He wasn't climbing on the mic. He was just yanking it right up to his face. Not something you would have predicted if you know about rats and how wary they are. A mystery. I felt like maybe that rat was trying to tell me something. Rats communicate via ultrasonic frequencies. So a few days later, when I got home, I processed the audio, pitch shifted it down, and hit play.