Science · Book club
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? book club questions
Here are 12 book club questions for Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
Frans de Waal's central argument is that we've spent most of the last century asking the wrong questions about animal intelligence.
Frans de Waal · 2016 · 6h 20m
Full summary and key takeaways →The 12 questions
- 1.
De Waal argues that we ask animals to prove their intelligence on human terms. What would it look like to design a cognitive test around a dog's or crow's own natural strengths?
- 2.
The concept of umwelt suggests every animal experiences a different version of reality. How does that challenge the way you think about the inner lives of pets or animals in the wild?
- 3.
What's an assumption about animal cognition you held before reading this that the book forced you to reconsider?
- 4.
De Waal distinguishes anthropodenial from anthropomorphism. Which error do you think is more common in everyday life, and which is more damaging scientifically?
- 5.
The book describes culture in chimpanzees — learned behaviors passed down through groups. How should that change how we think about what makes human culture special?
- 6.
De Waal criticizes the behaviorist insistence on avoiding inner-state language for animals. When is that caution scientifically warranted, and when does it become an obstacle?
- 7.
Elephants apparently grieve their dead and show distress at the skeletons of strangers. What moral obligations, if any, does that kind of evidence create?
- 8.
The mirror test is a poor measure of self-awareness in animals that rely on smell or sound. What does this suggest about the limits of any single intelligence benchmark — including IQ in humans?
- 9.
De Waal's capuchin fairness experiments show animals rejecting unequal treatment. What do you think that evidence tells us about the origins of human morality?
- 10.
If intelligence takes so many different shapes across species, what's the best argument for preserving any particular species beyond its immediate utility to humans?
- 11.
Think of an animal you live around or observe regularly. What question about its inner life could you ask that would be fair to that animal's own sensory world?
- 12.
De Waal spent decades being dismissed for attributing social complexity to primates. What does that history suggest about how scientific consensus can lag behind evidence?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are??
Here are 12 book club questions for Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on animal cognition, evolution, intelligence.
How long should a book club discussion of Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are??
Animal cognition, Evolution, Intelligence, Comparative psychology, Behavior. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? or questions for other book club picks.
