The Compassionate Intelligence of Mammals

We humans consider ourselves exceptional as a species of the animal kingdom, and of course we are. On the other hand, all living species of animals, birds, insects, and nature's flora and fauna are singularly exceptional. They are distinctive in one way or another, they all have a special reason to be where they are, in their biological environment, for their presence is intertwined in a chain of dependency on the other living things around them.

We are unique and exceptional as thinking creatures, capable of manipulating our environment but then so too do other creatures alter their environments and use parts of what surrounds them to their advantage, manipulating them as they require to enhance their existence. Our brains may be larger, capable of infinitely greater feats of intelligence and comprehensive thought, and we can look to the future in a way that other animals may not, but we are just beginning to appreciate the capacities for thought and even compassion in other animals.

Neuroscientists at the University of Chicago have experimented with laboratory rats, and their discovery about rats' ability to figure things out, to alter their environment, to assist one another, to feel companionship and responsibility for one another gifts us with information about these little animals that is quite new to us. These researchers placed rats in situations which made them uneasy, witnessing the distress of a peer rat. One of the rats was held in a restraining device, while the other was free to roam in an otherwise-shared enclosure.

The plight of the restrained rat communicated itself to the free one and its empathy for its companion caused it to attempt to free the rat whose movements were restricted. This experiment was repeated with other pairs of rats, both male and female. The plight of the imprisoned rat created a situation which led the free one to attempt, until successful, to figure out the mechanism of a 'door', whereby it could release the imprisoned rat to join the free one in companionable roaming and consuming kibble at their leisure.

"We are not training these rats in any way. These rats are learning because they are motivated by something internal. We're not showing them how to open the door, they don't get any previous exposure on opening the door, and it's hard to open the door. But they keep trying and trying, and it eventually works." Study author Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal

When the incarceration and freedom of the rat in distress was accomplished, leaving it to roam free in an enclosure other than the one where the freed rat was, it became clear that even if the active rate freeing the imprisoned one couldn't contemplate or anticipate companionship because the two rats would be separated, the active rat still went about the business of freeing the restrained rat; its empathy for the unhappiness of the restrained rat sufficient motivation.

"There was no other reason to take this action, except to terminate the distress of the trapped rats. In the rat model world, seeing the same behaviour repeated over and over basically means that this action is rewarding to the rat", explained Dr. Bartal. Even when the free rat was given a treat of chocolate chips, wildly popular with the rats, to tempt it and distract it from its purpose in freeing the trapped rat, the rat remained determined to free the other, their joint reward being together being free to consume the treats at will.

In fact, that kind of altruistic behaviour from a species we consider much lower down the evolutionary scale than ourselves, could likely teach us a good deal about obeying instincts handed down in our genetic code that would impel us to have an interest in and compassion for one another. In all of the animal world, it is humankind alone, with our advanced technological abilities that wages war on itself.