The brain is an instrument that allows a species to be more adaptable to new environments, of course there are other ways to achieve adaptability, being simple

The brain is an instrument that allows a species to be more adaptable to new environments, of course there are other ways to achieve adaptability, being simple and generic is one of them. Being a symbiote/parasite of an adaptable species (like bacteria are of us) is another. I think the battle between complex organisms and simple organisms is an ongoing one. At the moment we rely on the simple organisms on our insides to protect us against the simple organisms on the outside. If there is any threat to the survival of our species it lies there. A nuclear holocaust or a few degrees of global warming isn't going to do it, unless you define 'our species' as 'inhabitants of new york'. Wether we are more intelligent that some other intelligent animals is dependent on how you measure intelligence. If you define it as having many offspring in many continents, I'm not sure ants would win, but I'm not sure humans would either.