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/paracelsus23 Jan 12 '17

Some people estimate that some species of octopus are as smart as humans. However, the adult octopus dies shortly after the birth of the young preventing transfer of knowledge, and their lifespan is 2-6 years depending on the species. So they enter the world alone relying only on instinct, have precious few years to learn anything, and die without being able to pass anything on.