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We, as humans, have always demanded the top place on the scale of Earthly intelligence. We may well deserve this honor, but we may not be as far ahead of the rest of all the life forms on this planet as we think we are.

We don't really know what determines intelligence, but we think it is things like the convulsions on our brains and the size of our brain. There is a rumor that has persisted that we only use 10 percent of our brains, but this stubborn rumor is not true. We use most of our brains for one thing or another. From time to time we have examined the brains of different people when they died. Einstein's brain was compared to 35 men and 56 women and it was about the same, except in one particular area. This area is the region that controls mathematical thought, and the ability to think in terms of space and movement. Wouldn't it be funny if they found out someday that they were wrong and if this area had been more normal looking then Einstein would have been even a bigger genius. I know, I have to stop thinking in such adverse ways. The area of my brain that controls adverse possibilities must be over developed.

If we use Einstein as an example, then we realize that brain size may not matter, to a point. We also realize that animals with smaller brains may have areas of their brains that are developed. Look at the gray parrot. Poor guy, his brain is only the size of a walnut, yet scientists have found that he can recognize the concept of zero. Can you imagine an animal that knows what zero means. Zero is a concept that even humans don't understand until they reach the age of at least 3 years old. Scientists were able to teach this bird that concept.

Lets look at the brain of a chimp and compare it to our own. Their brain is actually superior in some areas. For example, the areas in a chimp's brain that control the sense of smell and foot movement are much further advanced, yet the areas in the human brain that control hand movement airway control, vocalization, language control and thought are more developed than the chimps. But is this a result of environment? If a chimp was raised as a human would that change the way his brain developed? Chimps are supposedly closer to humans than they are to gorillas. The neocortex is about three times larger in a chimp than in a human. The primary motor cortex is about 4 times larger in humans than in a chimp.

There may have been a time when humans were not as smart as the sea otter. The sea otter uses tools. He will lay on his back in the water, place an abalone shell on his stomach and then take a rock and uses it as a hammer to break open the shell. He may sleep in a kelp bed floating on his back. Many times he will tie the kelp around himself so he doesn't drift out to sea while asleep. There is no doubt the this creature is rather intelligent. Before man learned how to use tools, this creature was more advanced. Did man learn how to use tools from watching the otter, who knows for sure? It is even said that the otter makes ten distinct sounds for communication with the other otters.

Looking at our friends the whales we see an animal with a huge brain. Why aren't whales the dominant intelligence on earth? Hey maybe they are but don't want to show off. Seriously, they have huge brains because they have to control a huge body. This doesn't mean that they are more intelligent. When whale brains are examined and dolphin brains for that matter, it is found that the front part of the brain that is used for thinking is larger than ours. Does this mean that they are more intelligent than we are? No one knows, but many scientists suspect that they may have some form of speech that we don't understand. Some scientists think that the amount of folds in the brain shows intelligence, but dolphins have more folds than we do. Maybe when they jump through that hoop they are really getting the man to do a trick and that is to hold the hoop. Oh there I go again.

Sometimes animals that are not considered to be at the extremely smart level do extremely smart things. Dogs have been known to save people who's houses were on fire by waking them up. On the other hand dolphins who are considered to be very smart have saved swimmers from sharks time and time again. It is hard to account for this type of behavior. In the dog's case it may be that fire is danger and he feel that the people are his pack and he wants to protect them. Dogs are one of the few animals that accept people into their pack or group. As for the dolphin, who can say what motivates him to save a stranger, it seems he just does it out of the goodness of his heart or the hate for sharks.

I remember a great line from the Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Man is third in intelligence on earth and Dolphins are second. It was really the mice that were the most intelligent and they just let us think we were.