Why do the Vedas say humans are the only intelligent species on the planet? Dogs and monkeys seem quite intelligent...

It's well-know that some species of animals can communicate and even use simple tools. Why then the Vedas say they are not intelligent?

It's well-know that some species of animals can communicate and even use simple tools. They can learn by observing each other and in many cases there is transmission of knowledge to the new generations, with monkeys learning from their parents about ingenious ways to get certain types of food and solve day to day problems. Researchers even question if such transmission of knowledge can be considered a form of culture.

More than that, animals can also learn to communicate with humans, as anyone who has a dog can attest. Parrots, for example, can learn to speak simple sentences and use them to have simple interactions, such as asking for food or playing different types of games. The most striking example is apes communicating with humans through sign language.

The gorilla Koko, for example, was ablet learn and use the signs for about 1,000 words and, on top of that, understand more than 2,000 spoken English words, a vocabulary similar to a small child. This rich vocabulary allowed her to have elaborate interactions with the researchers, following instructions, answering questions, asking for food, and so on. You can easily find videos documenting some of these interactions online.

Taking such cases into consideration, the assumption that human beings are the only intelligent species on our planet seems flawed. Cases like Koko appear to prove that indeed there are other species on our planet, that although less intelligent than humans, are also capable of communicating, have feelings, and so on. Does it mean the Vedas are incorrect on this point?

There are, however, a few crucial differences. Take a look at these points from an article from Psychology Today, by Lawrence T. White, Ph.D.:

"The crucial question is not whether some animals use tools and communicate with each other. They do. The crucial question stems from the fact that there’s a huge gap between humans and other animals when it comes to language and tool use.

To the extent that some animals communicate, they do so in a very simple way that lacks syntax and grammar, two hallmarks of language. Humans, on the other hand, lead lives that overflow with language. We know and use thousands of words every day. We easily add new words to our vocabulary—and some of us speak more than one language.

Humans use language to ask questions. (No other animal has ever asked a question.)[1] We invent new terms: brat summer, bromance, rizz, sick burn, twerking, and more. Most importantly, we use symbolic versions of language to read and write books, tweets, instruction manuals, and posts like this one. (No other animal has ever read or written anything.)

Much the same can be said of tool use. Humans don’t have just one or two tools at their disposal. We have thousands of tools—hammers, jackhammers, can openers, can crushers—the list is almost endless. Some of our tools are so complex and technologically sophisticated that we don’t even think of them as tools anymore. Consider automobiles, televisions, submarines, and spaceships.

All of this leads to a conclusion that seems self-evident: If animal culture exists, it is an extremely limited, intellectually and technologically impoverished version of what we call human culture. The evidence is everywhere we look. Universities, symphonies, and supermarkets. Book clubs, hospitals, and art galleries. Other animal species have none of these."

The crucial point, from the Vedic perspective, is that animals never ask questions. They respond to interactions initiated by the researchers, and they ask for food and other necessities, but they never enquire about anything. Here, we are not even talking about spiritual knowledge, they simply don't ask questions, at all. Not even “How are you?”, or “What are the news?”. Nothing. Even though they can understand that the researchers have more knowledge than they do, they are not curious to inquire and receive this higher knowledge. Whatever condition of life they are in, they are perfectly happy to remain, as long as sufficient food and other necessities are secure.

This is precisely the point the scriptures make. Even though animals are sufficiently intelligent to find food and have a certain degree of social life, they are satisfied in whatever position they are, and never inquire about the absolute truth. They are satisfied in satisfying the basic necessities of eating, sleeping, mating, and defending, and all questions are merely connected with that. This shows that in all animal species, the soul is sleeping, fully identified with the body.

The scriptures make the point that apart from demigods and other higher beings, humans are the only species capable of inquiring about the real problems of life, how to solve the fundamental questions about the stopping of birth, death, old age, and disease. Human beings are the only ones capable of inquiring about the soul.

As Prabhupada explains in his purport to SB 4.25.26:

"The first aphorism in the Vedānta-sūtra is athāto brahma jijñāsā. In the human form of life one should put many questions to himself and to his intelligence. In the various forms of life lower than human life the intelligence does not go beyond the range of life's primary necessities—namely eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Dogs, cats and tigers are always busy trying to find something to eat or a place to sleep, trying to defend and have sexual intercourse successfully. In the human form of life, however, one should be intelligent enough to ask what he is, why he has come into the world, what his duty is, who is the supreme controller, what is the difference between dull matter and the living entity, etc. There are so many questions, and the person who is actually intelligent should simply inquire about the supreme source of everything: athāto brahma jijñāsā. A living entity is always connected with a certain amount of intelligence, but in the human form of life the living entity must inquire about his spiritual identity. This is real human intelligence. It is said that one who is simply conscious of the body is no better than an animal, even though he be in the human form. In Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) Śrī Kṛṣṇa says, sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: "I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness." In the animal form the living entity is completely forgetful of his relationship with God. This is called apohanam, or forgetfulness. In the human form of life, however, consciousness is more greatly developed, and consequently the human being has a chance to understand his relationship with God. In the human form one should utilize his intelligence by asking all these questions, just as Purañjana, the living entity, is asking the unknown girl where she has come from, what her business is, why she is present, etc. These are inquiries about ātma-tattva—self-realization. The conclusion is that unless a living entity is inquisitive about self-realization he is nothing but an animal."

We can see that the concept of intelligence in the scriptures is quite different from the modern one. Intelligence, according to the Vedas, is not about solving logic problems, inventing new products, or creating memes, but about inquiring about ātma-tattva, and inquiring about the real problems of life. From this perspective, the scriptures define spiritual inquiry as the very beginning of human life, equating humans who are not philosophically inclined to animals, even if articulate in other aspects.

For the same reason, women are sometimes pointed as less intelligent, because in previous eras women were typically more concerned about material comfort than with self-realization, but this is something we can see it's changing, since nowadays men are usually not very awaken in spiritual terms and women often show more interest than them in spiritual matters. Since the benchmark is one’s eagerness to receive spiritual knowledge, ladies who do so are indeed more intelligent than most men.

This also makes the point that far from being a secondary concern, inquiring about spiritual matters is the very essence and goal of human life. Our success in life is thus not measured in how much money we can accumulate or how high we can climb in the social hierarchy, but how much time and effort we can dedicate to our spiritual development.

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