![]() De Waal gives the example of the scrub jay, a bird that hides its food in various locations and has the ability to remember the location of hundreds of food items at a time. Instead, we must understand that animals’ minds have evolved to perform actions that are different from ours, and therefore, cannot be judged as less intelligent just because they do not fit the human standards of intellect. ![]() However, in his book “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?”, primatologist Frans de Waal reveals that the way we have been judging animal cognition is wrong.Īccording to de Waal, we cannot compare minds of different species and rank one higher than the other. The arguments for this idea included our unique abilities to communicate and understand language, create tools to accomplish tasks, think ahead, and even understand others’ perspectives. For as long as we can remember, humans have been trying to answer the question: “Are animals as smart as us?” For a long time, our species was considered to have intelligence that is superior to that of other animals. ![]()
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