The human mind has discovered Pi, taken us to the moon and invented the internet, so you might assume that we understand one of humanity's oldest companions.

However, although evidence suggests that cats have lived alongside us for over 9,500 years, they continue to confuse us.

In one famous fable called Belling the Cat, a group of mice discuss ways to fend off a predatorySomething that preys on others. cat. They agree to attach a bell to its neck so that they will hear it approaching. However, when trying to choose a volunteer for the task of placing the bell on the cat, none of them is willing, and the idea fails.

For the common reader, the fable should show us to come up with ideas that will actually work. For scientists, it can remind them of the difficulties of studying cats.

In the 1890s, scientists were baffled by images which showed a cat falling from a height. In the photos, the cat was shown twisting in midair, something which defied a fundamentalKey. law of physics. Some scientists concluded from this that cats were immune to the laws that control us all.

Modern researchers have solved this problem, proving that it all comes down to evolution, since cats have very flexible spines which can allow them to contort in the air. It explains the saying "cats always land on their feet".

However, many things remain unknown. We still do not understand why cats purr, or why they have the remarkable sum of 100 possible vocal noises. Cat psychology is another growing area of study which does not have many certain conclusions.

Furthermore, cats are not the only animals we do not know enough about. We still do not know for sure why zebras are striped, how some animals appear to be immortal, or how migrating butterflies navigate themselves more than 2,000 miles across the globe.

Yes: It is shocking that we have so little understanding of our domestic companions. Cats are one of the most populous animals in the world. If we know so little about cats, we must be truly ignorant of other, more complex things.

No: Humans have an extraordinary bank of knowledge. We only believe in the mystery of cats because of a long cultural and literary history which has lauded them as incomprehensible and sometimes even divine.

Or... Finding out more about cats is not the key to solving our ignorance. Researching animals at all is a fool's errand at the moment. We should be focusing on developing modern medicine and fighting the climate crisis.