In boxing as in medieval theology, anger is a sin. Lose your rag and you are likely to. lose the match. Bite your opponent's ear off and, as Mike Tyson discovered, you will lose much more. The animals in Janet Halperin's laboratory have neither the biceps nor the cerebral skills required for boxing: they are Siamese fighting fish. Yet even these intellectual pygmies seem to fight according to rules. According to Halperin's research at the University of Toronto, the fish learn their place in the pecking order and react to rivals with a level of aggression that is finely judged for each encounter. Too little brands you as a soft touch, while lashing out at a much bigger rival is seen as just plain stupid.
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