From Martin van Raay
“Why are humans the smartest animals on Earth?” you ask (24 March, p 3). Suppose any animal, in less than 2 million years, changed its environment so thoroughly that not only did many other species die out, but the existence of the animal itself was endangered. Would we call that animal “the smartest on Earth”? Maybe what separates us from other animals is that we are too “smart” to see our own mistakes for what they are.
Culemborg, The Netherlands
