"The 'Uncanny Valley' theory is based on the same principle."
"In other words, an animal's innate fear is the fear of the unknown, the fear of things that are different."
"If you were to show a large model of a hippo to Great Apes that have never seen a real hippo, they too would likely experience a sense of fear."
"What? How do you explain that mice are naturally afraid of cats?"
"To be precise, mice aren't born fearing cats but rather react to certain smells and sounds associated with cats, such as saliva, cat urine, and meows. When they smell cat urine, the mouse's endocrine system automatically kicks into gear, increasing the mouse's anxiety and compelling it to move away to avoid potential encounters with cats."
"And if you were to use genetic engineering to edit specific mouse genes, making the mice unresponsive to particular proteins in cat pheromones, then they would no longer display stress reactions. They wouldn't even feel fear in the presence of a live cat."
