Books › Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
463 pages
A mind-expanding journey that dismantles human arrogance and replaces it with a profound awe for the hidden genius of the natural world.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like taking a long, fascinating walk with a brilliant and deeply empathetic professor who is determined to change the way you see the world. The pace is steady and deliberate, allowing you to fully absorb the astonishing anecdotes of tool-using octopuses and face-recognizing wasps. It cultivates a mood of profound, humbling awe, gently but firmly dismantling the pedestal of human exceptionalism. The prose is accessible and warm, translating complex cognitive science into captivating stories without ever losing its rigorous edge. It is a deeply rewarding experience for curious minds, leaving you with a lingering sense of wonder and a permanently altered perspective on the vibrant, thinking minds that share our planet.
- Mood
- awe-inspiring
- humbling
- thought-provoking
- curious
- Tone
- inquisitive
- empathetic
- authoritative
- wry
- passionate
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- human exceptionalism · redefining intelligence · cognitive empathy · the hidden depths of nature · interconnectedness of life
- The writing
- Clear, engaging, and anecdotal, blending rigorous scientific observation with warm, accessible storytelling.
- The arc
- The reader journeys from a place of human-centric assumptions to a profound, humbling awe at the cognitive richness of the animal kingdom.
- Who it's for
- Curious nature lovers and science enthusiasts who want their assumptions challenged and their sense of wonder rekindled.
Content notes
- animal captivity
- historical animal testing
About the book
Hailed as a classic, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? explores the oddities and complexities of animal cognition―in crows, dolphins, parrots, sheep, wasps, bats, chimpanzees, and bonobos―to reveal how smart animals really are, and how we’ve underestimated their abilities for too long. Did you know that octopuses use coconut shells as tools, that elephants classify humans by gender and language, and that there is a young male chimpanzee at Kyoto University whose flash memory puts that of humans to shame? Fascinating, entertaining, and deeply informed, de Waal’s landmark work will convince you to rethink everything you thought you knew about animal―and human―intelligence.
Description from Open Library.
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