What separates your mind from the mind of an animal? Maybe you think it's your ability to design tools your sense of self or your grasp of past & future
- all traits that have helped us define ourselves as the pre-eminent species on Earth But in recent decades claims of human superiority have been eroded by a revolution in the study of animal cognition Take the way octopuses use coconut shells as tools or how elephants can classify humans by age gender & language Take Ayumu the young male chimpanzee at Kyoto University who demonstrates his species' exceptional photographic memory Based on research on a range of animals including crows dolphins parrots sheep wasps bats whales & of course chimpanzees & bonobos Frans de Waal explores the scope & depth of animal intelligence revealing how we have grossly underestimated non-human brains He overturns the view of animals as stimulus-response beings & opens our eyes to their complex & intricate minds With astonishing stories of animal cognition Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? challenges everything you thought you knew about animal
- & human
- intelligence