Don't call me clever

摘要

At first glance, Homo sapiens seems an unlikely candidate for world domination. Our bodies are puny and defenceless, with none of the obvious trappings of a top predator. But no matter, the secret of our success is measured not in brawn but in brains. That makes it tempting to rate the creativity and complex learning abilities that characterise human intelligence as the pinnacle of evolution. Tempting, but wrong. Think about it. If our kind of intelligence is such a good thing, why is it unique in nature? Given around 3.8 billion years of evolution since life began, you might expect other organisms to have come up with the same winning formula. Yet our big brains are the exception, not the rule. Most animals get by perfectly well with tiny brains and apparently limited learning abilities. Perhaps the combination of a large brain and advanced intelligence isn't a universal winning ticket in the evolution lottery, but is instead just another evolutionary adaptation.