“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-creator of string field theory, says that intelligence is not necessary for survival — after all, Earth did just fine during the first 4.5 billion years before humans existed.

Why aren’t there more intelligent creatures on Earth? And what propelled humans, above all other primates, to become intelligent creatures? We can thank opposable thumbs, predator eyesight, and language.

While many animals have one of these traits, the combination of all three 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?

Source : https://bigthink.com/the-well/evolution-of-intelligence/