If out of all the species that ever existed, we're the only ones that understand our own mortality, it makes me wonder what else, by sheer probability, we have yet to understand.
> we're the only ones that understand our own mortality
Do we really though? Yes, we understand it on some level - but I think if we really understood that we will die things would look very different. Basically every religion has some cope around this topic.
A lot of Buddhists train for many years to 'understand' mortality, and even then I don't think all or even most of them truly grasp the impermanence of all things. The ones that do often find it a hard job to share their knowledge, even to the dedicated.
*** Going slightly tangential:
How much do some of us understand, that most people will never get? And what can we do about it?
A few people have a real understanding of how con artists, sociopathic CEOs, serial killers, war-mongering and corrupt politicians, etc, think and operate - but they can never really explain it to most people, even in books.
A lot of scams/lies work because most people would never think to be such an arsehole.
And there are good reasons for that - it can be damaging to your well-being, your wallet, and your social sphere to be the type of 'paranoid' that sees those things as they are. And even experts get scammed; we all have blind spots, bad days, brain farts etc.
Other examples: While nearly all people can 'feel' music, only a few can consistently bang out hit songs. Many people struggle with big numbers, and are therefore susceptible to all kinds of thinking errors. Others struggle with things like recognizing faces and remembering names, regardless of their kindness and empathy.
For all the work done in psychology about things like blind spots, the Dunning-Kruger effect, disorders etc, we are still in a position where openly attacking education is a valid political strategy.
So... I'm saying, we all have a lot to understand, and most of it will never be understood. I hope we can start organizing our culture to better accommodate this fact, but the resistance to any such change will be/is extreme.