I think he had chosen the wrong words here, it's foolish to think that great apes are not self aware. However they don't have the kind of insight in their own t

I think he had chosen the wrong words here, it's foolish to think that great apes are not self aware. However they don't have the kind of insight in their own thinking that humans posses. We can draw some conclusions on how they use tool or organize themselves socially and on the surface we might not be that different. Apes can teach each other how to dig for water in cases of drought, but their planning and preparation only goes so far. I think our self awareness is much more linked to curiosity and goal determination than anything. I don't mean that it arises from those but that it is our inherent ingenuity of that made us conquer the Earth.