[mannykannot]

>> why are humans the only creatures on Earth that have evolved those properties? Possibly language and a large brain are an evolutionary backwater.

> Nearly every animal has language, for cooperation, competition, raising their young or to find a mate. Bees, whales, primates, birds, etc. all communicate strategically with some type of language.

There is currently only one species on Earth capable of even imagining the things being discussed here. On the other hand, it seems there may well have been more, but the others are now extinct.

One of these issues only we are discussing is the evolutionary viability of those abilities, and the fact we can do so suggests that it is, to some extent, up to us whether or not they will be.