>>11330082>Would evolutionary pressure encourage them to become smarter, to learn to use some tools of civilization, better pattern-recognition, even learning to read etc in time?Maybe. Raccoons being able to read instructions would unlock a huge amount of potential resources for them. Companions animals and stock animals would never be allowed to grow in intelligence because the smarted they get, the more aggressive they get (think dolphin rape or honey badgers fucking up everything) and we would actively discourage aggressive behavior. Any scavengers that live alongside humans—birds, raccoons, bears, etc—would see large benefits from increased intelligence and eventually could be incorporated into society.
