Is it arrogant? Yesterday, my two year old son said “is the tow truck that is coming to get your car a bed truck or a hook truck?”
Other animals are definitely smart in some ways…and probably in ways we don’t understand…but it’s not an overstatement or arrogant to say that we are in a class of our own.
We have particular skills we like to think are most important. We entirely lack other skills, to the point we don't even know about them. Whales, elephants, and octopus probably find us singularly unimpressive at mental achievements they do easily.
I find titles such as this one offensive. Who is "we"? Because everyone who isn't a complete idiot knows that animals are not stupid. Crows, cats, dogs, pigs, snakes, insects - clearly not stupid.
Arrogance seems like the major component but it binds really well with ignorance. As a kid, it never occurred to me that certain creatures appear dumb because they have trouble navigating our world. Well, no shit. Almost nothing is built to help anyone but us. Animals do not have the same vision or hearing as us. Doesn't make them stupid.
Yet, many literate people throughout history have insisted exactly what you say none believe, and wrote it down where it would be re-transcribed through centuries.
Other animals are definitely smart in some ways…and probably in ways we don’t understand…but it’s not an overstatement or arrogant to say that we are in a class of our own.