Got it. Well, in case you're still reading: Most people, after interacting with someone with Down's Syndrome, would conclude that that person is more intelligen

Got it. Well, in case you're still reading: Most people, after interacting with someone with Down's Syndrome, would conclude that that person is more intelligent than any animal on Earth. Animals cannot grasp abstract first principles, and then undertake non-genetically programmed, non-rote actions that demonstrate their understanding of first principles. People with DS, the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability, have the IQ of an 8-9 year old child. They are capable of learning the first principles of basic math, and, after doing so, add 13+8 together when they have never been told what that particular sum is. Animals are significantly more pre-programmed, and whenever we find a parrot that dances to music, dolphins that exhibit wildly unexpected behavior, and a primate that can make use of symbols, it inevitably turns out that those behaviors aren't rooted in as much cognition as one would first assume. The commonly understood intelligence that I am referring to is that which can be clearly observed in someone with Down's Syndrome above and beyond what we observe in animals. Part of it is a matter of magnitude. Dogs seem to have empathy. I'm sure they do, but without sufficient cognition, that empathy is severely bounded. They will jump up and down and wag their tail when you return from a 5 minute walk. If, however, you die and there's other food in the house, they might nonetheless eat your face in short order.