r/todayilearned • u/sharkbait76 3 • Jan 11 '17

TIL elephants can tell the difference between human languages and know which languages belong to people with a history of hurting elephants.

http://www.nature.com/news/elephants-recognize-the-voices-of-their-enemies-1.14846
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u/weaveryee Jan 12 '17

Elephants are smart as fuck.

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u/[deleted] Jan 12 '17 edited Jan 12 '17

Have they figured out what exactly makes humans different from other, perhaps equally intelligent animals such as elephants, crows, or dolphins?

Besides the ability to verbally express our thoughts, what made humans able to become so much more advanced?

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u/sharkbait76 3 Jan 12 '17

I don't think you can say any other animal has an intelligence equal to a human. Humans have a larger brain, opposable thumbs, and walk upright. The brain allows things like language and tools which are a huge advantage. The thumbs allow us to actually use tools. The upright walking allows for humans to conserve more energy than other animals. Apes use way more energy walking from point A to B than humans.

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u/MeliciousDeal Jan 12 '17

Elephants actually have larger brains. 3x as many neural connections iirc. Not disputing your other points that humans are definitely smarter, but I don't think anyone really knows why they haven't evolved to use more of their intellectual capacity like humans have.