Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Thank you, Laura, I love this!
I mentioned to my daughter that I was learning to button-train my dog. She suggested I might be interested in this book. She was right.
From the time my children were born, I saw they wanted to learn about the world. I saw that they were deep in thought long before they could speak words. Just as I have noticed with my dog and cats, they saw a lot but had no way to speak in completely understandable ways. Sure, they somehow teach us when to give snacks, clean the litter, or go outside. They seem to understand our words; we understand their actions. But I will still try to find buttons to teach them to talk to us. There is a whole science about this now.
Frans de Waal addresses animal intelligence and how they communicate in their own groups. I cannot find the narrator’s information. After you get used to his way of speaking the text flows and keeps the reader’s interest. This was an Audible version so I can read it again later.
Darswords 
The concept of all that is very interesting. I wonder if my dogs are now to old to train.
They’ve already learned a lot from you and you from them. You could try. 🤗
Dear Darswords and Kim Smyth,
Hello! I am delighted to read your posts and be acquainted with you and your works here. Thank you for reviewing Frans de Waal’s book entitled “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?”. I love the author and own his book entitled “The Ape and the Sushi Master”.
Interspecies interactions and communications are special in that they can and tend to transcend many boundaries and expectations imposed by human customs and belief systems. Perhaps you have heard of or studied such disciplines as zoo-anthropology or anthrozoology?
What do you think of the writings of David Abram, specifically his book entitled “Becoming Animal”?
To what degree do scientists and researchers entail seeing animals outside of the box of human expectations or ideas that humans have about “utility” (not necessarily limited or pertaining to the utilitarian perspective or paradigm)?
How do you find Frans de Waal’s book “The Ape and the Sushi Master”, which argues that animals are capable of forming and developing cultures and complex societies?
Would you agree and/or recommend that we could learn a great deal about ourselves and Nature via the notion of “Biophilia” as first proposed by Edward O Wilson?
In a post entitled “Frans de Waal Goes in Search of Atheist Chimps”, a blogger named Beastrabban\ expresses the following:
What the blogger states in the paragraph is very relevant to establishing the appropriate frameworks and perspectives for conducting research into high-functioning animals such as simians and cetaceans. I would like to welcome you to read and comment on a special post of mine entitled “Do Animals Create Art and Music? 🎵🐕🎶🐒🎹🐘🖼🐬🎨“. The post is available at
I welcome your visiting my said post and submitting your feedback there.
Wishing both of you and your respective families a wonderfully productive week doing or enjoying whatever that satisfies you the most in mid-June!
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle🦅
My daughter is the scientist in the family. She is the one that recomended my first read of de Waal’s books. I am merely science curious, always. I am more the musician, hobbiest of the family. Most of my life has been at the piano, still no where near professional as my mom hoped.. In my family each of my children chose their form of music. One loves country metal rock, one is more Depeche Mode, one stays in the classic rock, and one seems to love the sounds of games and movies making something I find interesting but not necessarily something to dance to. So I believe animals make their own music and art. I’d love to see what the longer lived animals think and feel about higher thoughts, spirituality, beauty, but I can see without distractions set up by humans, others may have formed ideas we may not have thought of. I will read more de Waal and deeper into your website thoughts. Seeing the questions that the buttoned trained dogs and cats have for us, makes me think we might not be the smartest but merely one of the creations started here on Earth.