A major distinction of humans is that we are a cultural species. We have evolved to pass down large amounts of knowledge to the next generation. Being good at

A major distinction of humans is that we are a cultural species. We have evolved to pass down large amounts of knowledge to the next generation. Being good at communication (and motivated to use it for teaching) kind of follows from this. We are not game-changing smart at figuring out new tools. But we are excellent at copying innovations from others, remembering them and fine-tuning them over generations. On this I highly recommend Joseph Henrich's book: "The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter".