4 ms·

>>descended from wild Norway Rats, albino lab rats remain curious, gregarious social creatures Nope! I have watched well fed lab rats attack and eat each other

• michaelochurch 12y ago
  If we can apply morality to animals (and the question of where to draw the line is unresolved) I think they're as complicated as we are. Humans, after all, commit cannibalism. It's not common, but it does happen. People tend to swing from an idealized image of certain charismatic animals to crestfallen realism (some dolphins torture! some bonobos kill each other!) but I think that, in reality, they have a lot of the same inter-species "moral" (assuming we can apply that concept) complexity and variety that we have.
• mcguire 12y ago
  That does make them an excellent model for humans.
  • stcredzero 12y ago
    Every dangerous, crazy, warlike species portrayed in Sci-Fi TV shows and movies has been far outdone by actual historical humans. We're capable of jaw-dropping personal and up close brutality, and until recently, the state depended on the existence of many individuals who were highly capable of it. Now we have tools like guns and bombs, so we can pretend we're civilized.