[nine_k]

Humans are special, but in more subtle ways than "thinking vs dumb". I think it's safe to assume that all higher mammals have some idea about the world around, themselves, their kin, etc, with a social structure of sorts, unless they are solitary. Many of them, like wolves, pass their learned experience to their progeny, that is, possess and sustain a culture. Some of them, like cetaceans, are officially considered conscious. (And there are comparably intellectual birds, too.)

Humans have unique achievements, like constructive syntax, or overcoming of the Dunbar number limitation in cooperative structures, or mathematics, but these stem from a really tall intellectual base humans share with other mammals.

[frakrx]

Dont forget the birds sone birds like corvids and parrots are roughly intellectualy equal to primates and cetaceans.

[justanotherjoe]

I'm an atheist, but the book of genesis put it very well on this subject. There is one emotion that is unique to humans. It is not compassion, or sense of justice or fairness, aninals have those. It is shame. Which is unique to humans.

On a related note, I heard some interesting theory by Robin Hanson on Lex Fridman's podcast. The guy said that the ego is our brain's attempt at forming a story around the brain's decisions (which are made pre-thought). It's crazy to consider that what we are is just our brain attempt at storytelling to justify ourselves.

[jhanschoo]

> It is shame. Which is unique to humans.

Dogs have shame, though.

[isoprophlex]

> overcoming of the Dunbar number limitation in cooperative structures

... but only barely ;)

[nine_k]

Look at any armed forces. An army worth the name is always larger than 150 people.

Then look at Walmart or Amazon. Then consider democracies in countries with tens and hundreds of millions of people.