In animal intelligence studies, researchers have observed that species are more keen to learn from members of their own kind. There's a great chapter in Frans

In animal intelligence studies, researchers have observed that species are more keen to learn from members of their own kind. There's a great chapter in Frans de Waal's "Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?"[0] which discusses the difference between wolves and dogs. Many people believe dogs are smarter than wolves because they are more keen to listen/observe humans. However when the tests are arranged so that wolves can learn from other wolves it becomes clear that wolves are far more intelligent. It's a matter of wolves not caring a bit about humans. de Waal goes on to discuss similar testing biases inherent in comparing chimpanzees and human children, with human children getting a one-up on chimps because the testing administrators are members of their own species. If you're interested in diving into the motivation behind storytelling and how it effects us, I'd recommend reading The Storytelling Animal by Jonathan Gottschall[1]. It's one of the most approachable book on the subject. [0] Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are by Frans de Waal: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/06/are-we-smart-enough-to-know-how-smart-animals-are-frans-de-waal-review https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/06/are-we-smart-e... [1] The Storytelling Animal by Jonathan Gottschall: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/books/review/the-storytelling-animal-by-jonathan-gottschall.html http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/books/review/the-storytell...