How humans evolved to be intelligent | Michio Kaku

Skip navigation Search 3 Avatar image 4:38 / 5:43 How humans evolved to be intelligent | Michio Kaku The Well 173K subscribers Subscribe 1K Share Download Clip Save 27,458 views Feb 27, 2023 We are 99% genetically identical to chimpanzees. These are the three key traits that separate us. ❍ Subscribe to The Well on YouTube: https://bit.ly/welcometothewell ❍ Up next: The science of love • The science of love | Dr. Helen Fisher “Only a handful of genes separate us from the chimps, and yet we live twice as long and we have thousands of words in our vocabulary.” Dr. Michio Kaku, the co-founder of string field theory, says that intelligence is not necessary for survival — after all, planet Earth did just fine during the first 4.5 billion years before humans existed. So what propelled humans, above all other primates, to become intelligent creatures? And why aren’t there more intelligent creatures on Earth? You can thank opposable thumbs, predator eyesight, and language. While most living creatures have one of these traits, the combination of all three ingredients is limited solely to humans. If we could determine all the gene variants responsible for these traits, could we manipulate the genome of a chimpanzee, our closest animal relative, to become more human-like? Potentially, says Michio. But should we? Read the full video transcript: https://bigthink.com/the-well/evoluti... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ❍ About The Well ❍ Do we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional? There are no simple answers to life’s biggest questions, and that’s why they’re the questions occupying the world’s brightest minds. So what do they think? How is the power of science advancing understanding? How are philosophers and theologians tackling these fascinating questions? Let’s dive into The Well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Join The Well on your favorite platforms: ❍ Facebook: https://bit.ly/thewellFB ❍ Instagram: https://bit.ly/thewellIG Transcript Follow along using the transcript. Show transcript The Well 173K subscribers Videos About Facebook Instagram 136 Comments rongmaw lin Add a comment... Pinned by The Well @marz.6102 1 year ago So how do you become more intelligent? 25 Reply The Well · 9 replies @KippWoodard 1 year ago One result of the intelligence developed in humans is that they/we have deliberately taken life beyond Earth and are determined to do so permanently. So, "nature" has produced a way to spread life as far as intelligent life can manage to do. The show has barely begun. 23 Reply 2 replies @greginness6993 4 months ago Language being an ingredient was able to allow ancestors to find a way to leave a message so we can learn from the past therefore becoming more knowledgeable. 3 Reply @AAA-tp7nc 1 year ago Wouldn’t language be the result of us becoming intelligent, not the cause of it? 23 Reply The Well · 7 replies @Thunderguy229 1 month ago I feel like birds would’ve been the next runner up. I can see them eventually harnessing the power of fire 1 Reply @rmigalla 1 year ago Well, I don't for a minute believe that nature evolved intelligence so that it would be used against itself, which humans seem to be particularly good at these days (using our intelligence against nature, that is). I hope nature evolves us to a new intelligence that dictates that our common welfare comes first. I hope it evolves us into cooperative, courteous, considerate "others" who care for one another, and I hope it does it pretty darned quick. 12 Reply 4 replies @78g476 1 year ago (edited) Komodo dragons are predators but have eyes on the side of their face. But Gorillas are herbivores and have eyes in the front of their face. So I’m not sure what exactly he is talking about because Gorillas are way more intelligent than a Komodo or even tigers and lions. 46 Reply 9 replies @renegroulx7029 1 year ago 2:50 "The Second Edition of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words" 1 Reply @Mr.Anders0n_ 1 year ago This talk is bunniest! 6 Reply @eevee_themeanie5883 1 year ago MK is the MJ of theoretical physicists :) 4 Reply @poksnee 1 month ago That does not answer why humans became intelligent. Only effect, not cause. 2 Reply 1 reply @OmegaWolf747 2 weeks ago If we did genetically modify a chimpanzee to be more intelligent and human-like, wouldn't that raise some ethical questions? Reply @tommycarr1896 8 months ago Boy, he is the smartest scientist ever he knows everything. Oh my God he should be God how come, he is not God. 1 Reply @gowtham7231 1 year ago (edited) Can also add ability to cook food 3 Reply @austinharrison8430 5 months ago I think the real question is here will the smarter bunny survive longer than the dumb bunny? He is saying no they both will die at the same rate. Maybe that’s true but it doesn’t sound realistic. Reply @psicologiajoseh 1 year ago Talking about making chimpanzees more like humans... As I grow older and see the human potential for evil, I accept more easily the fact that not every research possiblity should be pursued. 12 Reply @arulvani7038 1 year ago Are we really intelligent in a way that it aids nature? 3 Reply 5 replies @ShahzadAlam 2 weeks ago Did a fox become intelligent because of where the eye is placed or did the eye get placed in the front because the fox is intelligent? Reply @Lone_Star86 5 months ago Why does intelligence at our human level exist at all? I mean the Universe created us so it must be a fundamental part of the Universe. Reply @renegroulx7029 1 year ago I will tell you, what seperated us from animals. first, we rubbed two sticks together to make a fire, then we crushed up rocks, melted them in crucibles and made tools out of metal. Reply @marcofabiocarosi2996 1 year ago What about dolphins? 4 Reply 3 replies @maxparkin8131 6 months ago is learning language the feason humans were able to become intelligent, or was language a result of becoming intelligent Reply @TW-lz3nd 11 months ago But how/why did we develop an opposable thumb? Reply 1 reply @Jaybllr98 6 months ago Crows / magpies are smart and have side eyes 1 Reply 1 reply @philsophkenny 1 year ago ❤ 1 Reply @fenyr7767 1 year ago Ok , Still haven't answered this question : where did all this come from? Evolution? This is funny to believe! Reply @professorJorge11 1 year ago Aliens from Earth, came from the future. We were made w genetic eng 1 Reply 3 replies @jimmygrizz9341 1 month ago I don’t think we truly understand what intelligence is when it comes to other animals. Orcas are incredibly intelligent. They actually have language. And each pod has its own dialect. Crows make and use compound tools. The list goes on. Reply The Well · 2 replies @pingukutepro 4 months ago If you listen to Michio or even worse: working with him. Then you are not intelligent Reply @996dog 1 year ago I wonder how this speaking guy thinks about Egyptian Reply @sarahkragness7138 3 days ago (edited) Cetaceans, African gray parrot, ravens/crows, elephants. Cetaceans are estimated to be of equivalent intelligence with 'homo sapiens', but we can't communicate yet. Reply @Primo_extracts 1 year ago You get planet of the apes😂 Reply @heavensophia9382 1 year ago When will we evolve the intelligence needed to know that having forward facing eyes has nothing to do with being a predator? We evolved from an arboreal, Kak. You know, like our herbivorous relatives gorillas and orangutans. Hammerheads are predators, orangutans and gorillas aren't predators, like how you aren't a biologist. Reply @pokemongokilo7461 1 year ago (edited) .. what is intellegent?.. Reply 1 reply @SSNewberry 4 months ago Um ... no. Smart man stupid ideas. Reply @danfontaine8179 1 year ago How humans became intelligent = 5 minute video? Lol k 1 Reply @Isdendounabdoun 4 months ago He didn't explain anything at all. He rather proved that the theory of evolution is just a baseless invention. 1 Reply 3 replies @MuhammadSaqibcpe06 1 year ago How misguided people are. We are intelligent creature and our predecessors were also intelligent creatures. Creatures which were non intelligent were perished before mankind was sent to the earth. This is proven from history and slates written thousands of years ago. Quran proves this and books before Quran too. 7 Reply 11 replies @tankieslayer6927 1 month ago BS artist. Reply