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NEWSLINE PAPER,- When talking about intelligence in the animal world, humans are often regarded as the most intelligent living creatures on the planet.
Our ability to create technology, to build civilizations, to develop language and art, is often a testament to our cognitive superiority over other species.
However, is it true that humans are the most intelligent living creatures?
Quoted from The University of Adelaide, there's a lot of scientific evidence that suggests that humans are not the most intelligent living creatures, according to evolutionary biologists at the Université d'Adelaide.
"For thousands of years, authorities from religions to leading scholars have repeated the idea that humans are extraordinary because they are the smartest in the animal world," said Dr. Arthur Saniotis, Guest Researcher at the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of Adelaide.
Saniotis explains that the belief in the superiority of human intelligence is rooted in the Agricultural Revolution about 10,000 years ago, when humans began to produce cereals and raise animals.
This belief grew stronger with the rise of organized religion, which regarded man as the highest species in creation.
"The belief in human cognitive superiority has been rooted in philosophy and human science. Even Aristotle, one of the most influential thinkers, argued that humans are superior to other animals because of our unique thinking abilities," Saniotis added.
Although animal rights began to gain attention in the 19th century, the impetus of the Industrial Revolution hampered progress in animal rights awareness.
Professor Maciej Henneberg, a professor of anthropology and comparative anatomy at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, says that animals often have different abilities that humans misunderstand.
"The fact that they may not understand us, while we do not understand them, does not mean that our intelligence is at a different level; we are just different kinds of intelligence," Professor Henneberg said.
"When strangers try to communicate with us using an imperfect language, we tend to assume they're not intelligent. However, the reality is very different," he added.
Animals offer a variety of intelligences that have long been underestimated by human attachment to language and technology, including social and kinesthetic intelligence.
(Newsline Paper Teams)