The motto below the cat picture, "He who dislikes the cat, was in his former life, a rat." seems no longer apt. We have been seriously maligning rats, who apparently show empathetic behavior and even a degree of altruism that was hitherto unsuspected. Or maybe just unnoticed and unstudied.
"The first evidence of empathy-driven helping behavior in rodents has been observed in laboratory rats that repeatedly free companions from a restraint, according to a new study by University of Chicago neuroscientists."
Empathy has been observed and studied in higher primates and large mammals, but while we use lab rats to test out a variety of medical, biological, even cognitive theories, it hadn't been definitively proved that rats would show any further degree of willingness to assist the helpless. At best, a concept called 'emotional contagion', in which individuals mirror the emotional state of others in the vicinity, had been explored.
This NPR interview, with Peggy Mason, one of the lead authors on the new paper, discusses in layman's terms the design of the experiment and what exactly the results imply. One of the most interesting implications is that this sense of empathy not only extended to the rats freeing trapped companions, but also sharing a special food (chocolate chips) with them.
The interviewer, hoping perhaps to end the segment on a light note threw this out.
"PALCA: Well, all I can say is I wouldn't try that experiment on humans because I'm sure they'd leave me trapped. Most of my colleagues would leave me trapped and go for the chocolate and then let me out...."
So rats, have been getting a bad rap, just because of cultural perceptions that see them as 'fleeing a sinking ship' (where else could they flee when the water enters the area that they are in) and hence cowardly. It has just evolved into a popular meme and mindless pejorative, just as we categorize pigs as dirty (they love baths much like other mammals and avians and wouldn't wallow in the mud if they had access to clean water baths.).
But that might be too much to hope for, that just like the word 'gay' is finally losing its pejorative connotations, the terms ' ___ is a rat' or 'a pig' will make their way into history as quaint archaisms. We could be losing the shorthand associations of those usages in an entire body of literature that would no longer invoke a visceral reaction. Imagine x years in the future, when somebody reading 20th century literature stumbles across "He who dislikes the cat, was in his former life, a rat." and now has to puzzle out a meaning that would have jumped out at him in earlier times.
However that may turn out, in the context of the horrific fire that trapped and killed over 80 people in Kolkata, India, yesterday, with staff running away from the scene instead of assisting, it seems to me that the worst label humans could attach to such behavior is merely 'human'.
Actually, I have nothing against rats although I wouldn't like it if I was awakened from sleep by one them nibbling at my toe or ear!
Our language is replete with wrongful connotations of animal behavior. The rat and pig are not the only ones getting a bad rap. Snakes, worms, dogs, skunks, monkeys, donkeys, mules, vultures, vampire bats and so many others have been marked for infamy despite being perfectly wonderful creatures.
The AMRI fire in Kolkata was a horrific case of negligence, poor planning and cowardice.
The motto of the blog is not changing :-)
Posted by: Ruchira | December 10, 2011 at 11:07 AM
If my reaction to rats is anything to go by, I wonder if I might have been a cat in a previous life ;)
The language references to other animals are just artifacts of our past, those aren't going to change anytime soon, or even change at all. Unless, rats take over the world after some disaster that wipes out humans, and become the overlords of the planet. Or maybe, that might be the heyday of the cockroaches.
Now I will sit back and wait for the study that proves that cockroaches show empathy towards other cockroaches, as well.
Posted by: Sujatha | December 10, 2011 at 05:56 PM
Well, apparently not all of the hospital staff were rats running from the sinking ship.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/kerala/article2701598.ece
Posted by: Sujatha | December 11, 2011 at 07:51 AM