Things That Shouldn’t Be True: Animal Facts That Defy Common Sense

Things That Shouldn’t Be True: Animal Facts That Defy Common Sense

We supply the stories. The animals supply the strategies. We call the shark a mindless killer. Nature calls it a 400-million-year success story. We call the sloth lazy. Biology calls it a master of energy accounting. We misunderstand animals because we ask the wrong questions. We wonder what they feel—when we should be asking what they optimize. We project human flaws onto systems that don’t care about our stories. In Things That Shouldn’t Be True , Ilan Sutton dismantles the myths we’ve wrapped around animal behavior and replaces them with something colder, sharper, and far more logical. From the “alpha” wolf to the “forgetful” goldfish, these 52 reframes strip away sentiment and expose the ruthless efficiency behind nature’s most surprising strategies. Nature doesn’t reward intention. It rewards outcomes. If you’re tired of feel-good fluff and want to see the animal kingdom through the lens of evolutionary design, this book will snap everything into focus. Stop asking what they feel. Start asking what they optimize.