Buzz
Humans may not be the fastest or the strongest creatures on Earth. Our senses are often outperformed by other animals: birds have superior vision, dogs possess a sharper sense of smell, and some species can detect things beyond our perception. Sharks can sense magnetic fields, turtles can detect electricity, and bees see ultraviolet light. Elephants can even sense when they lack salt in their bodies, similar to how we experience thirst. The tortoise, on the other hand, can live far beyond our lifespan, sometimes by over a century. Woolly spider monkeys use plants for birth control, and parrots consume certain clays to neutralize poison. So, what makes humans unique? We explore ten human qualities we take pride in, while also acknowledging that many animals share some of these abilities. Could our distinctiveness lie in a combination of factors, or is it in our potential rather than what we already are?
10. Culture
Culture includes all behaviors and activities that are not genetically predetermined but are learned and shared within a population. It spans arts, humanities, religions, values, and practices. While human culture is incredibly diverse, the concept is not exclusive to humans. For an activity to be considered cultural, it must not stem from genetic influences; it should be passed down through generations, remembered rather than forgotten instantly, and shared across a community. Several primate species have developed their own unique cultures. For example, chimpanzee groups perform rain dances before storms, a tradition passed down over time. In 1963, a Japanese macaque monkey discovered the pleasure of soaking in a natural hot spring, a practice that has since been adopted by the entire troop and continues to this day.
9. Emotions
Humans experience a vast range of emotions, from anger to joy, sadness to euphoria. Our emotions shape our daily lives as we navigate through these shifting feelings. People who have cared for large pets, such as dogs or cats, will recognize that these animals also experience emotions, including fear, affection, embarrassment, and desire. Dolphins, for example, show signs of grief when they lose their young, and octopuses have been observed exhibiting signs of depression when bored. Reptiles display curiosity, and jealousy over parental attention is evident among sibling apes. In the wild, apes will care for orphaned young, and in captivity, they may even form attachments to pets. Gorillas have been observed displaying altruistic behavior, comforting a child who fell into their zoo enclosure and returning them to their human caretakers. Similarly, chimpanzees console each other after conflicts. Emotions are not unique to humans.
8. Language
Language serves as a tool for communicating needs, desires, and concepts. Various groups of people have developed their own forms of language, and these languages continuously evolve. Humans utilize a wide range of languages, including non-verbal ones. The Bubi people of Equatorial Guinea, for example, rely heavily on hand gestures, similar to the Sign Languages used by deaf communities. On La Gomera, an island in the Canary Islands, people communicate through a whistled language. Animals also use forms of language. Primates, whales, birds, and even squid have been found to use specific signals to represent objects, actions, and individual names. Chimpanzees go further by employing syntax and grammar. A notable example is Washoe, a chimpanzee raised as a deaf child, who learned over 350 American Sign Language words and was able to combine them to create new words and phrases. While wild chimpanzees use about 70 signs, Washoe often engaged in conversations with her dolls. One moving moment showed her understanding of abstract concepts like grief when she signed “cry” and touched her cheek after her instructor explained, “my baby died.”
7. Humour
Humour is an essential part of life for many individuals. Though it can be challenging to define, humour comes in many forms, often bringing amusement and resulting in laughter. The absurd, the unexpected, or the contrast between elements can evoke this feeling. Chimpanzees, like humans, are not strangers to laughter. They engage in playful tickling and laugh loudly in response. However, while laughter is often associated with humour, it does not always imply that the situation is humorous. Even rats have been observed laughing. Nevertheless, chimpanzees, too, can find humor in situations. In captivity, several great apes have been seen laughing at incidents involving others, such as a fellow ape making an embarrassing mistake.
6. Tool Use
One of the key traits that set humans apart is our ability to use tools. We have built towering cities, perfected agriculture, preserved cultural knowledge through writing, and even ventured to the moon. For a long time, humans were regarded as the sole tool-using species. However, we now understand that this is not the case. Great apes, crows, ravens, dolphins, elephants, and even octopuses have been documented using tools. Often, this tool use is culturally transmitted, meaning that different populations within a species may use and apply tools in distinct ways. Chimpanzees craft hammers and anvils from stones and make spears for hunting, gorillas employ walking sticks, ravens create their own toys, seagulls use bait to catch fish, dolphins utilize shells to capture fish, octopuses use coconut shells for shelter, and elephants create water vessels to drink from.
5. Memory
Humans have the remarkable ability to capture and store sensory information for future use. This means we can recall past experiences to help us navigate future situations, such as choosing the best food based on past tastes. Animals, too, have impressive memories, as any pet owner can attest. Domesticated animals can be trained to remember commands, and even goldfish have been shown to retain memories for months. Chimpanzees have been found to remember images and numbers more accurately than university students, and crows excel at remembering shapes better than adult humans. Some species of jays and squirrels possess incredible spatial memory, allowing them to recall the locations of thousands of buried seeds spread across large areas for months. Cats, too, have short-term memories that last at least ten times longer than those of humans. Intriguingly, pigeons appear to develop superstitions based on their memories—if a pigeon associates a specific action, such as turning around before receiving food, with getting fed, it may begin repeating the behavior obsessively in hopes of getting more food.
4. Self-Awareness
While most would agree that a jellyfish lacks a strong sense of self and does not perceive itself as an independent entity, it’s not thinking beyond its basic instincts. For many years, self-awareness was thought to be uniquely human, but we now know this is not the case. A common test for self-awareness is the mirror test, where an animal is shown a mirror to see if it can recognize its reflection. A self-aware animal will notice that the movements in the mirror match its own, and conclude that the reflection represents itself. Often, a mark is placed on the animal’s face, and if the animal recognizes its reflection, it will reach up to touch or remove the mark. Human children typically pass this test at around 18 months. Animals that have passed this self-awareness test, along with other similar assessments, include great apes, some gibbons, elephants, magpies, and certain whale species.
3. Building
Humans are undoubtedly exceptional builders. The cities, highways, and factories that mark our world are a clear demonstration of this skill. What other species could construct skyscrapers that rise hundreds of meters into the sky or lay down roads and highways stretching for thousands of kilometers? Some animals also show impressive building abilities. Birds and apes create intricate nests, rabbits burrow extensive warrens, and ants even shape trees to fit their needs for shelter. However, the most remarkable builders are the Nigerian termites. They construct massive mounds, complete with internal systems for ventilation, heating, and cooling via specialized tunnels to ensure a comfortable environment for the termites inside. These mounds are equipped with nurseries, gardens, cellars, chimneys, expressways, and sanitation systems. Despite their size—only half a centimeter in length—a termite’s mound can rise to a towering 4 meters. To put this into perspective, it’s like a group of humans constructing a building over 1.5 kilometers tall.
2. Farming
Farming forms the foundation of modern human civilization. It is thought to have started almost ten thousand years ago, providing humans with the ability to settle in one place rather than leading nomadic lives following animal herds for food. This shift allowed humans to develop writing, mathematics, the wheel, farming tools, and other essential elements of large-scale farming. The spread of these practices across the globe was rapid. However, ants had already perfected farming millions of years ago. These ants capture, herd, and care for caterpillars within their nests, utilizing the caterpillars' sugary excretions as a food source, much like humans rely on cows. Additionally, termites farm fungi, growing specialized types that can only thrive in their environments.
1. Intelligence
Humans, classified as homo sapiens, are known as 'the wise man.' Our ability to think and reason gives us a remarkable advantage over other species. Intelligence manifests in many forms, and there are several definitions of it, but it's generally seen as the capacity to think, reason, plan, evaluate, and learn. Yet, humans are not the only intelligent creatures on Earth, nor do we excel in every area of intellect. For example, pigeons outperform us in visual search and geometric recognition tasks. Ants have a surprising ability to estimate large numbers with precision, using this skill to evaluate the strength of enemy ants from previous encounters. Elephants engage in basic arithmetic, and crows display advanced causal reasoning. These birds can figure out complex mechanisms by observing them only once, instantly understanding how to operate them, rather than relying on trial and error. In fact, crows can unlock doors and locate hidden items with just one observation, often surpassing human capabilities.
+ Abstract and logical thinking
To clarify, abstract thinking is not simply random or chaotic thought. It involves taking a concrete idea, such as an apple, and contemplating a higher concept associated with it, like its deliciousness, which can then be extended to other objects. Logical thinking is fundamental to this process. While it's difficult to measure abstract thinking in non-human animals, no species has yet been able to match human performance in purely abstract reasoning. The ability to think logically and abstractly is one of humanity's most significant achievements. This is due in large part to the size of our frontal lobes, which are proportionally the largest among all species. Perhaps what truly defines us as human is our capacity to think rationally, to question our own beliefs, and to seek truth, regardless of how challenging or uncomfortable that truth might be.
