Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
By Frans de Waal
Read by Sean Runnette
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From world-renowned biologist and primatologist Frans de Waal comes this groundbreaking work on animal intelligence destined to become a classic. What separates your mind from an animal’s? Maybe you think it’s your ability to design tools, your sense of self, or your grasp of past and future―all traits that have helped us define ourselves as the planet’s preeminent species. But in recent decades, these claims have been eroded—or even disproved outright—by a revolution in the study of animal cognition. Take the way octopuses use coconut shells as tools; elephants that classify humans by age, gender, and language; or Ayumu, the young male chimpanzee at Kyoto University whose flash memory puts that of humans to shame. Based on research involving crows, dolphins, parrots, sheep, wasps, bats, whales, and of course chimpanzees and bonobos, Frans de Waal explores both the scope and the depth of animal intelligence. He offers a firsthand account of how science has stood traditional behaviorism on its head by revealing how smart animals really are—and how we’ve underestimated their abilities for too long. People often assume a cognitive ladder, from lower to higher forms, with our own intelligence at the top. But what if it is more like a bush, with cognition taking different, often incomparable, forms? Would you presume yourself dumber than a squirrel because you’re less adept at recalling the locations of hundreds of buried acorns? Or would you judge your perception of your surroundings as more sophisticated than that of a echolocating bat? De Waal reviews the rise and fall of the mechanistic view of animals and opens our minds to the idea that animal minds are far more intricate and complex than we have assumed. De Waal’s landmark work will convince you to rethink everything you thought you knew about animal―and human―intelligence.
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Summary
Summary
A New York Times Bestseller
A New York Times Editor’s Choice
A 2017 ALA Notable Book
An Audible Pick for the Best of 2016 … So Far!
A 2016 Amazon Best Books of the Year So Far Selection for Nonfiction
Winner of the 2016 GoodReads Readers’ Choice Best Science & Technology Book Award
A 2016 Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year Selection for Nonfiction
A Library Journal Best Book of 2016 for Science & Technology
From world-renowned biologist and primatologist Frans de Waal comes this groundbreaking work on animal intelligence destined to become a classic.
What separates your mind from an animal’s? Maybe you think it’s your ability to design tools, your sense of self, or your grasp of past and future―all traits that have helped us define ourselves as the planet’s preeminent species. But in recent decades, these claims have been eroded—or even disproved outright—by a revolution in the study of animal cognition.
Take the way octopuses use coconut shells as tools; elephants that classify humans by age, gender, and language; or Ayumu, the young male chimpanzee at Kyoto University whose flash memory puts that of humans to shame. Based on research involving crows, dolphins, parrots, sheep, wasps, bats, whales, and of course chimpanzees and bonobos, Frans de Waal explores both the scope and the depth of animal intelligence. He offers a firsthand account of how science has stood traditional behaviorism on its head by revealing how smart animals really are—and how we’ve underestimated their abilities for too long.
People often assume a cognitive ladder, from lower to higher forms, with our own intelligence at the top. But what if it is more like a bush, with cognition taking different, often incomparable, forms? Would you presume yourself dumber than a squirrel because you’re less adept at recalling the locations of hundreds of buried acorns? Or would you judge your perception of your surroundings as more sophisticated than that of a echolocating bat?
De Waal reviews the rise and fall of the mechanistic view of animals and opens our minds to the idea that animal minds are far more intricate and complex than we have assumed. De Waal’s landmark work will convince you to rethink everything you thought you knew about animal―and human―intelligence.
Editorial Reviews
Editorial Reviews
Reviews
Reviews
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Perfect intro to animal smarts.
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For the human species, there is a lot still left to be learned. The natural world is full of intelligent acts. Frans de Waal has shared his experience with chimpanzee levels of influence and social interactions. Giving us the inside strategy of killer whales on the hunt for seals by isolating them, not to mention the trouble sharks get themselves into when the stubborn octopus fakes them out. Sean Runnette’s reading is spot on and proves once again how adept he is to making whatever he reads very accessible to laymen and scientist alike.
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Easy to Understand Science
- This book is interesting, entertaining, and enlightening. It is written by a scientist so I was expecting it might seem textbookish and dry. It’s not. The tone is conversational, and the stories he shares of what animals are capable of are quite enjoyable, especially the documented instances of animals outsmarting other animals, outsmarting people, planning for the future, and showing altruistic concern for others. The narration is well done by Sean Runnette.
Details
Details
Available Formats : | Digital Download, Digital Rental, CD, MP3 CD |
Category: | Nonfiction/Science |
Runtime: | 10.58 |
Audience: | Adult |
Language: | English |
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