I think Pepper lets you think you're smarter than her.
Cats just don't care about your feelings lol.
This is a bit off topic, but I recently came across a correlational study of dog vs. cat people and personality traits.
So, I always have assumed that there are more dog people than cat people based on my own experience.
But the numbers were much more stark than I thought. Only 11% of respondents identified as cat people. A plurality of respondents voted for dogs, the rest for equally like both.
The authors pointed to stories around cats as "hating" or "plotting" against their owners or eating their dead masters as the reason for people's attitudes towards cats. Stories about cats eating their already dead owners have been verified, but cats are not the only guilty pet of such behavior. But heck, let's not limit it to pets. Hello, Donner Party?