• Question: why are humans so smart?

    Asked by dylanho to Amy, Drew, Julia, Kimberley, Sara on 20 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by qasimsaleem321.
    • Photo: Julia Griffen

      Julia Griffen answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      We have evolved so… to have consious thought and make decisions based on our surroundings. I think our communication skills and language have enabled us to become so smart..

    • Photo: Drew Rae

      Drew Rae answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      Good question, but we aren’t smart enough to know the answer yet. The incomplete answer is that it gave us some advantage over competitors for our niche that weren’t as smart. Recognising patterns is definitely part of it, but lots of animals can do that without as much intelligence as us. Social groups is part of it too – most animals that have social groups (the big exception being hive insects) are quite good problem solvers as well.

    • Photo: Amy MacQueen

      Amy MacQueen answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      Hey Dylan…sometimes I wonder if we are all really that smart (I do pretty stupid things on a fairly regular basis!). What I think is incredibly interesting about humans is our ability to analyse our own thoughts. As far as we are aware there isn’t any evidence for other animals being able to do this…which is pretty incredible. The brain is complex thing – no one fully understands it yet! 🙂

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