Malcolm Gladwell

McDonald told me that she was the origin of that statistic, and she just made a number up, which is exactly what a raccoon would do. She gets it. So after a century of waiting, I prepared to receive the good news about the raccoon's true intelligence from the source. I leaned back in my desk chair.

How intriguing, I thought. Maybe the raccoon's super intelligence develops at a later age?

How intriguing, I thought. Maybe the raccoon's super intelligence develops at a later age?

This was not going well.

This was not going well.

I was at this point trying not to look hugely depressed, but McDonald just kept going.

I was at this point trying not to look hugely depressed, but McDonald just kept going.

Here, I should just say that there's a lot we still don't know about raccoons. And indeed, McDonald's still gets a lot out of studying them too, especially the particularities of urban raccoons. But still, I had wondered about this question for years. Hearing that raccoons were morons, actually, was kind of a bummer in my book. But you know who was thrilled when I told him about it?

Here, I should just say that there's a lot we still don't know about raccoons. And indeed, McDonald's still gets a lot out of studying them too, especially the particularities of urban raccoons. But still, I had wondered about this question for years. Hearing that raccoons were morons, actually, was kind of a bummer in my book. But you know who was thrilled when I told him about it?

Again, local man, Malcolm Gladwell.

Again, local man, 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.

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.