In recent years we’ve learned that a number of capabilities we once thought unique to humans are in fact shared by other species: tool use, some aspects of mathematical ability, etc. But still, it’s us humans and not the other animals who have language and books and the arts and toxic waste sites and nuclear bombs and all the other strange fruits of our brains. Which cognitive capabilities truly are unique to us? Marc Hauser has proposed four cognitive differences between humans and other animals that constitute what he calls humaniqueness:
- We can combine different sorts of information to come up with a better understanding of a situation.
- If we find something that works to solve one problem, we can apply the same solution to another problem.
- We can use symbolic representations for computational and sensory input.
- We can separate our modes of thought from our raw perceptual input.
Hauser believes that these abilities together give us a broader and more transferrable sort of problem-solving capacity compared to other animals; we can learn from one situation and apply what we’ve learned to other situations. Could they also be the basis for much of our art? I’m thinking of combining different sorts of information, for example, as the basis for metaphor, one of my favorite of all literary devices. Obviously symbolic representation is important for much art. I haven’t read Hauser’s paper, just this story from Science Daily, so I’m not sure exactly what to make of that last item on the list, but it reminds me of Wordsworth’s idea that poetry “takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility” (which I think applies to other arts as well). It also reminds me a bit of the Buddhist idea of mindfulness, the ability to observe what is going on without getting caught up in it, although that doesn’t always come easy.
[Postscript, December 29, 2023: I’ve come to think that the most significant difference between humans and other animals may be that we’re the only animal obsessed with proving that it’s uniquely gifted compared to others. However, maybe it’s a subset of humans (Western humans?) who are highly concerned about this, rather than humans in general.]
