Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?

I’ve long believed that animals are smarter than we give them credit for, and in this book, Frans de Waal provides a fascinating, science-based explanation of why that’s the case. Even more compelling, he provides evidence that the reason we’ve so often underestimated animals’ intelligence has nothing to do with their limitations and everything to do with our own.

Whether it’s the parrot who can add sums, dolphins who call each other by name, or the researcher whose fidgeting caused the capuchin monkeys he was studying to underperform, de Waal offers both an entertaining read and a critical question: How… show more.

This captivating book dismantles the prevalent notion that various facets of human intelligence are exclusive to our species.

Through a compelling array of examples spanning the animal kingdom, the author illuminates how skills like crafting tools, understanding mental perspectives, recognizing oneself, and even exhibiting cultural practices are not confined to humans and their nearest kin. Instead, these abilities have independently emerged in a diverse array of other creatures.

Consequently, the book serves as a stimulating challenge to the idea of human superiority, offering numerous indications that when an animal's environment demands it, evolution is inclined to yield intelligent behavior in… show more.

Many people still believe that we are the only intelligent species on this planet, but every single day other non-human animals are showing us differently.

Thought-provoking, compelling, scientifically sound, and backed up by evidence, this book is a journey into the fascinating world of animal problem-solving. As Carl Safina, renowned biologist Frans de Waal is a fantastic (and funny) storyteller and one of my favorite authors of popular science books.

For a long time I’ve had the feeling that we undersell animals by looking at their capabilities all wrong. We tend to judge their intelligence by human standards, which is a little bit like suggesting a person speaking a foreign language is making no sense. Albert Einstein purportedly wrote, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Animals see the world differently, which is a thing of great beauty in most cases, and something I feel I’m a better person… show more.

Frans de Waal is one of the leading researchers on intelligence in non-human animals and this book provides fascinating stories of ways in which chimpanzees and other species exhibit sophisticated kinds of problem-solving and learning. It is well complemented by his subsequent book on animal emotions: Mama’s Last Hug. You will learn that animals are a lot smarter than you thought.