Revisionist History: "Rat vs. Raccoon" – A Detailed Summary
Podcast Information:
- Title: Revisionist History
- Host/Author: Malcolm Gladwell (Pushkin Industries)
- Episode: Rat vs. Raccoon
- Release Date: May 15, 2025
- Description: Revisionist History explores the overlooked and misunderstood aspects of the past, re-examining events, people, ideas, and even songs to question our initial interpretations. Produced by Pushkin Industries in partnership with iHeartMedia.
Introduction to the Raccoon Phenomenon
The episode opens with Ben Nadif Haffrey delving into the unexpected focus on raccoons in Toronto. He interviews Amy Dempsey Raven, an investigative reporter for the Toronto Star, who shifted her investigative lens from police misconduct and child welfare to the escalating raccoon crisis in the city.
Amy Dempsey Raven explains her transition:
"[...] I got into writing about raccoons because they started breaking into my supposedly raccoon-proof green bin in Toronto."
(00:50)
Toronto, dubbed the "raccoon capital of the world," invested 31 million Canadian dollars in raccoon-resistant composting bins in 2016. However, reports soon emerged that raccoons were outsmarting these bins, leading to widespread urban disruptions.
Malcolm Gladwell’s Personal Encounter
Malcolm Gladwell shares his personal experiences with raccoons during his early days in Toronto:
"I couldn't sleep and I went. My friends, a couple of my friends were from Toronto and I was like, what is going on? They're like, oh, it's raccoons."
(02:01)
He highlights the growing problem over the past four decades, illustrating raccoons' pervasive presence across the city—from supermarkets to train stations and even residential attics.
The Raccoon Intelligence Study
Intrigued by the raccoons' abilities, Michael Pettit, a historian of psychology at York University, becomes fascinated by Lawrence Cole's 1907 study titled Concerning the Intelligence of Raccoons. Cole's work suggested that raccoons possessed cognitive abilities comparable to monkeys, making them potential model organisms for psychological studies.
Michael Pettit reflects on Cole's motivations:
"I was just curious."
(06:07)
However, raccoons remained largely understudied compared to other animals like rats or monkeys, leading Pettit to question why they weren't a more prominent subject in psychological research.
The Rise of Behaviorism and the Lab Rat
The episode shifts focus to the dominance of Behaviorism in psychology, which prioritized controllable and predictable animal models, leading to the rat's ascendance in scientific research.
Michael Pettit explains:
"They are animals that you could control."
(14:34)
Bob Bailey, a former leader at Animal Behavior Enterprises, underscores the movement away from raccoons:
"So it was no surprise to us that a lot of psychologists steered clear of coons."
(11:20)
The rat's practicality—being smaller, easier to breed, and more docile—made them ideal for repeated experiments, fostering the belief that findings from rat studies could be generalized to humans. This period marked the "raccoon erasure", where raccoons were systematically sidelined in favor of rats.
Kelly Lambert’s Critique of the Rat Model
Kelly Lambert, a neuroscientist at the University of Richmond, provides a critical perspective on the rat-centric approach in psychological research. Known for her innovative experiments, such as training rats to drive cars, Lambert questions the validity of extrapolating rat behavior to human psychology.
She reflects on the entrenched use of rats:
"I don't think they made a decision about which model organism should we use. The rat was already on board for biomedical research, so it's practical to use the rat."
(16:49)
Lambert emphasizes the limitations of using inbred lab rats, which lack the behavioral diversity and complexity of their wild counterparts, thereby skewing psychological insights.
Raccoons vs. Rats: A Comparative Analysis
The episode juxtaposes raccoon and rat behaviors to highlight the implications of choosing the wrong model organism for understanding human psychology.
Malcolm Gladwell draws an analogy between raccoon traits and human behaviors:
"The raccoon just wants to mess things up. Right? He just. And he's maniacal about it."
(26:46)
He criticizes the anthropomorphic assumptions made when equating rat behavior with human traits, arguing that such comparisons overlook the unique attributes of humans that don't align with the rat model.
Conversely, Suzanne McDonald, a behaviorist and animal cognition expert, challenges the notion of raccoon intelligence:
"Having studied cognition in baby raccoons, they are dumber than sticks. They are so dumb."
(23:48)
McDonald contends that raccoons exhibit "search and destroy" behavior rather than purposeful problem-solving, undermining Cole's earlier assertions of their intelligence.
The Fallout of Rat-Centric Psychology
Ben Nadif Haffrey discusses the broader consequences of the rat model's dominance:
"We aren't rats. I'm not saying we can't learn anything about ourselves from animals. But I am saying that you should never underestimate how many of things we think we know about human beings are actually things we know about inbred rats."
(20:36)
This over-reliance on rats has led to flawed conclusions about human nature, as rat behavior doesn't encapsulate the full spectrum of human cognition and emotion.
Revisiting the Raccoon Model
The episode circles back to the potential of raccoons as a more nuanced model for human behavior, especially in urban settings. However, the skepticism from experts like McDonald tempers this optimism, raising questions about the feasibility and accuracy of using raccoons in psychological studies.
Closing Reflections
In his concluding remarks, Malcolm Gladwell encapsulates the episode's central thesis:
"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."
(27:55)
He warns of the dangers inherent in a rat-centric scientific paradigm, suggesting that neglecting the complexity of human behavior in favor of simplistic animal models like rats—and ignoring alternative models like raccoons—limits our understanding and capacity to address real-world challenges.
Conclusion
"Rat vs. Raccoon" serves as a compelling critique of the historical and scientific biases that have shaped psychological research. By juxtaposing the overlooked raccoon with the dominant rat, the episode invites listeners to reconsider the foundations upon which our understanding of human behavior is built, advocating for a more diversified and accurate approach to studying cognition and intelligence.