Isn't it arrogant to assume that humans are the most intelligent beings around?

Question

Sure, human beings are intelligent creatures, no doubt about that. But isn't it arrogant to assume that we are the cleverest/smartest/intelligent being around?

Yun: Well yeah, but most intelligent according to how we would define intelligence.

continued: that act alone is arrogant, isn't it?

Answer 1

We are definitely the most intelligent on Earth. Otherwise, other creatures would be driving around and we'd be scrambling in the shadows.

Answer 2

I think of intelligence as both an ability to learn and a sum of knowledge. That said, human beings are very intelligent. However, wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge learned in an effective, functional, productive and useful manor. Thus, one can be intelligent but still be an 'idiot' in that they know alot and can learn alot but still do stupid things. Think about the geek that can do calculus in their head but doesn't look both ways before crossing the street. There exists the other extreme as well. Think of the metally retarded person that is happy, healthy, and doesn't worry about the little things. That's wisdom - maybe not the most knowledge or ability to learn, but what they have is applied effectively, functionally and useful manor - I picture this person as truly happy which is probably the most useful thing there is. After all, if you can't enjoy life, what's the point - more money or another car that won't make you happy? We, generally, are smart, but not very wise - we think fiscal quarter to fiscal quarter... we think about fads... we worry about how popular we are... we then put our intelligence toward making sure we know enough about fashion to apply our eyeliner in the current style and know what necktie will look the best at the country club. We write laws to satisfy the electorate KNOWING the law passed is nothing more than window dressing. We ask to FEEL safe rather than ask to actually BE safe. We do these things for millennium after millennium and then assume, as a group, through our actions that we have learned not to behave like that anymore... ensuring we will do it again because we are conceded enough to think that despite ALL human history WE are different and that we HAVE learned from history. A person doesn't do that. PEOPLE do that. I think that we are smart, but as soon as we group together, the effect of the masses lowers our collective intelligence. Individually we are smart. Socially, we are idiots.

Answer 3

If it's an assumption, sure. That would be arrogant. We are the only species that has ever gotten off this globe. Native specie that is. We alone might be able to defend it against that which took out life at the end of Cretaceous. We are life's desperate answer to extinction. We may not be pound for pound of CNS material the most intelligent, perhaps some birds hold that distinction, but we can do what they do. The Dolphins may rival us in raw intelligence, but they can't put two stones on top of each other. We also use sonar. Insects are here as a default, somebody to clean the place up after the vultures die. If we can crack the secret to inter-galactic travel, we'll take over the distal portion of the Orion wing of this galaxy. It'll be just a bus ride, and then we will meet those who are much wiser, smarter, with more money, than we. Having a 40,000 yr history of warfare may help, but we will need to be smart, very smart.

Answer 4

Humans are the stupidest being around. They invented unhealthy food and drinks , such as tinned food and coke and much more to poison themselves. They were not happy just to have electricity, but furthermore, they invented television, computer, mobile phone which will cause brain tumour or cancer if in constant use. They invented weapons like bombs and nuclear to kill each other. They chase after wealth, fame, materials and things that won't last forever. After all, we will all be 6 foot under one day.
Comparing with human beings, animals are more intelligent and happy. All they want are seeking for food to survive, reproduce the next generation and lead a simple and satisfactory lives.
Can't say you are arrogant to assume that. But who is to judge humans are the most intelligent ? Only humans themselves.

Answer 5

I think the flaw is in the definition of intelligence. This is quite a nebulous concept, because among humans it cannot be isolated. It is a measure of how well people do on intelligence tests, and it is influenced by factors such as pretending to be stupid to fit in, anxiety about performance, self-image leading to preconceptions about how well one will do, learned helplessness and acculturation. Chimpanzees outperform us in certain memory tasks, and migrating animals can find their way back to the exact place they were born. Like other animals, we can do what our evolution has determined we are good at mentally, and we are not good at other things, even where they are mental tasks.

The notion of intelligence is linked to the pre-modern concept of a great chain of being, which is not really how the world works. It enables humans to see themselves as superior to other species and within our species, enables us to establish hierarchies. I would see, for example, the ability to do repetitive labour without becoming bored as a mental facility rather than an intellectual impairment.

Answer 6

I see very little evidence of human intelligence. More than half the world is starving; most political leaders expand their physical and monetary energies fighting pointless wars againat other peoples; the rain forests the lifeblood of a healthy ecology continue to be demolished at an alarming rate; world religious leaders like the Pope continue to lecture on the evils of Condoms and other forms of contraception, despite the epidemics of starvation and HIV.
Now let us consider real intelligence: The bird the Swallow despite weighing just a few ounces migrates the 5,000 miles from South Africa to England each Spring, eating insects and sleeping on the wing, surviving rain, high winds and other extremes of weather. It will arrive in England at the same place it was born the previous summer or nested the previous summer, hatch two or more broods and then return to South Africa in the Autumn; the newly born birds without instruction, will similarly migrate the 5,000 miles, the majority
surviving. It is nor known how the Swallow navigates itself so accurately on this mammoth journey.

Answer 7

In terms of cognition, we're the smartest on the planet, but that doesn't make us the ones most in harmony with our natural lifecycle or our environment. That harmony is the source of the most happiness. Either as individuals or as societies, we actually do a lot to foul ourselves up through things like pollution or war or drug abuse. Having a track record of making poor choices like that should be a little more humbling for our species than we usually acknowledge it is. And besides, we're the only species that demonstrates spite, our stupidest, pettiest behavior.

Answer 8

If you worked -w- some of the people I've worked with, you might not make that assumption lol. To answer your question, I say yes it is arrogant. There are different types of intelligence as well. For instance, there is instinctive intelligence. Spiders make fantastic geometrically designed webs without ever taking engineering or math etc., Termites build air conditioned nests and there are many more examples of "lower intelligence" animals with skills well beyond those of normal humans. It's all a matter of perspective.

Answer 9

Each creature, whether human or animal, thrives on survival.

Intelligent is a word made up by man.

There are many things a human can accomplish more than an animal, insect, plant, or reptile, but there are things an animal, insect, plant, or reptile can accomplish more than a human.

As all living creatures, we all make wastes, create over population, and reproduce numerous times. That is the cycle of life. All living creatures are equal.

Man cannot be intelligent if the world is sick and dying.

Answer 10

Down here in Texas we have a saying: "It ain't bragging if you can do it."

If a warthog comes up with a definition of intelligence different from ours, I'll be glad to consider it. It would probably involve sniffing out the best roots, finding girl pigs in heat and running from lions, though. That seems a little limited by human standards. Same with spiders. Sure they make good webs, but have you read any of their sonnets? Pure trash.

The point is, we are the smartest thing on this planet, by far. Nothing else even comes close. Failure to recognize that is willful ignorance to the point of mental disorder. If you hate who and what you are, go ahead and think of insects as being superior, but I don't see roaches building any people motels.

Answer 11

not really if you are talking about earth. it's pretty clear that no other animal has the ability to recognize the self as we can unless an ocean mammal can and just hasn't relayed that info yet. But their response to things in the ocean shows instinct is quite dominant as opposed to intelligence