A Curse or a Blessing?
An animal cognition researcher isn’t so sure about human intelligence or our future as a species. I’m not so sure he’s right.
Humanity has had a significant impact upon the planet. Of that, there can be no question. Our species' success has come at a cost, much of which has been paid for by other species that share (or used to share) the Earth with us.
Climate change is just the latest example of our capacity to alter our home in profoundly damaging ways, seemingly with little regard for the consequences these changes will have on our children and grandchildren, let alone the plants, insects, and animals whose lives depend upon a stable functioning environment. The Canadian animal cognitive scientist Justin Gregg refers to our apparent inability to both foresee the long-term negative consequences of our actions and to do much about them when they become apparent as “prognostic myopia”. It’s one of just one of several reasons he thinks human intelligence isn’t something we should be all that proud of.
In his 2022 book, If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity, Gregg argues that humanity’s “prognostic myopia” arises from our capacity to create technologies and implement solutions to immediate problems that can have long-term…
