People who torture animals victimize cats much more frequently than dogs. And because of the association of felines with the female, men who behave violently toward women are likely to have abused cats, too. Rats, snakes, and insects are viewed by some as vessels of infectious evil. Even though humans spread disease much more commonly than do rats, negative fantasies about animals tend to exaggerate relevant characteristics and lead to actions against them. Thinking in Only Two Categories Toddlers have trouble with complex thought.
More maturity is required to perceive shades of gray.
Differences between humans and animals may seem to overwhelm similarities and confine them to a category distinct from our own. There is reason for some long-range optimism about human psychology. As we develop in infancy, our capacity to act on impulses matures before our capacity to inhibit or modulate those actions. So, we go through a stage in which we babble, wet ourselves, and throw and break objects. Only later do we learn to speak, to control body functions, and to explore the nature of objects without breaking them.