[TeMPOraL]

As 'dan00 points out, without the ability to retain the results of the innovation process over generations, innovating pretty much goes to waste. What makes us special is a combination of ability to innovate, to pass it to others, to pass it to next generations, to build new innovations upon the old ones, and the ability to build stable societies that let us extend the scope of innovation to things beyond capability of single individual. As much as shared stories are crucial for building and maintain societies, it's an important element of what makes us special.

WRT. the social part, I'm reminded of something 'lisper keeps saying - that the minimum viable reproductive unit for homo sapiens is a tribe or a village.