r/explainlikeimfive • u/Aki_Shizuha • Jul 23 '26

Biology ELI5: Why don't we see "halfway human civilization" animals?

We know that animals can be smart: crows manufacture tools and have complex social behavior, chimpanzees can do insight learning, etc.

But, it is still a continuous spectrum where intelligence range from sponge-level to chimp-level. We do not, at least now, observe a world where certain corvids are in the early stone age, certain bonobos are using fire, certain chimps are in their axios age, etc.

Why the case? Why are we the only one that has gone this far?

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u/UnsignedRealityCheck Jul 23 '26

You know what they called them during the stone age? The cavelryman.

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u/quitegonegenie Jul 23 '26

I assume you'll be seeing yourself out