Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas · Sean Carroll

346 | Erica Cartmill on How Human and Animal Minds Think and Play

March 9, 2026·1 hr 28 min·5 clips
A chimpanzee named Ai beats humans at a number sequencing task, forcing us to rethink what makes us unique.
Sean Carroll interviews anthropologist Erica Cartmill about the cognitive similarities and differences between humans and animals, focusing on intelligence, play, and social behaviors. They discuss how chimpanzees can outperform humans in certain memory tasks, the role of teasing and humor in animal societies, and what these insights reveal about the evolution of human uniqueness.

As heard by us

A careful look at intelligence that uses animal behavior to complicate easy ideas about human uniqueness.

Sean Carroll and Erica Cartmill turn animal minds into a useful way of asking an old question: is intelligence one human trait, or a set of abilities that shows up in different ways across species?

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Why you'd press play

For when you want animal cognition to sharpen your view of human intelligence.

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