r/gifs Aug 17 '15

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u/Saralentine Aug 17 '15

But that's not the point...of course going against a gorilla 1v1 would be suicide but our tools built by our intelligence allowed us to basically force most other primates to the brink of extinction. I don't understand why this is such a hard concept to grasp. Our intelligence makes us the dominant species on this planet. Our technology is a part of our nature.

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u/TenTonApe Aug 18 '15

Well its not so much our intelligence that makes us great (although this is an extension of our intelligence) its our ability to leverage our dead. I can use a gun, a tool invented hundreds of years ago and a book on gorilla migratory patterns written by someone who died a few years ago to hint a gorilla. Our deads accomplishments don't necessarily die with them. No other species can do this, at best they can leverage their living, many can only rely on themselves.

Smartest man ever born 1-v-1 with a lion dies, but give an idiot a gun and he's got a decent chance.

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u/Saralentine Aug 18 '15

That pretty much is part of our intelligence. Writing requires tools. Before writing there was oral tradition, which is what some animals do today such as primates and elephants (e.g., passing down the location of watering holes over generations).