There is nothing "magical" about humans and the unique abilities we possess - I've never heard anyone intelligent argue that. If you're asking me if I would be

There is nothing "magical" about humans and the unique abilities we possess - I've never heard anyone intelligent argue that. If you're asking me if I would be swayed by compelling evidence, of course I would. As far as thought emerging solely from high abstraction/complexity, I think that is probably wishful thinking. It seems more likely that a specific kind of brain architecture is required for these abilities to arise. Complexity/abstraction may be a part of that architecture, but our brains do not seem to be much more complex than chimpanzee brains, so there is likely some sort of wiring or other structural component that gives rise to our unique capabilities. The anthropologist Ian Tattersall has written about some of these issues extensively.