Humans are Stuped

Humans are kinda dumb. Not to be mean if you're a human out there reading this right now, but like, let's be real here. If you know many humans, or watch the news at all, or have any real comprehension of history, you probably agree with me. There's a great quote by comedian/professional ranter George Carlin that I really love. He said, 
 
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of them are stupider than that."
 
I think about that quote a lot in the context of zoosexuality. It's very funny to me when people try and frame why being a zoo is wrong under the context of intelligence, because I really don't think we're that much smarter than a dog, or a horse, or a cat. I mean sure, we can do things like read and write and do math, and all of that is cool and what not. But, does that really make us that much better than other animals? We've used those skills to do things like invent capitalism, wage wars over whether our books are more correct than other people's books, and destroy the very earth that we live on. We might be capable of so much more, but I don't think that means we're any better at using it. 
 
Intelligence is complicated because there's so many different ways to measure it. IQ tests are a great example of this. IQ tests are great for measuring a very specific kind of intelligence, but just because someone has a high IQ doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to kill at your local bar's quiz night. I think that different people are smart in different ways. And, likewise, different species are smart in even more distinct capacities. Dogs probably think humans are pretty stupid because they can't follow the scent trails to get back home and have to rely on carrying maps everywhere we go. Trying to map intelligence between species is so complicated because our brains are just designed to do totally different things. The brain of a dog doesn't necessarily care as much about society at large, but they don't need to. Meanwhile, our brains have adapted to specifically do this whole human society thing.
 
Different animals are good at different things. Dogs have really amazing noses. There are birds that can perfectly mimic tons of different noises, and also fly which I think probably takes some decent brains. There are lizards that can regrow their limbs. Bees can communicate complex information through interpretive dance. Sharks can read electromagnetic waves through the water to be able to hunt in the dark. Chameleons can change their outer layer to camouflage into any environment. Bats can detect where moving things are in the air just with echolocation. And you can say that those are things that those animals are specifically adapted for, and I agree with you. I think our specific adaptation as humans is our ability to think about things. And while that's really cool and great, I also don't think that makes us gods that surpass other animals in every way. 
 
The point I'm trying to make here is that I don't really think that humans are some kind of order of magnitude smarter than other animals. Are we smarter in general? Absolutely, I'm not trying to deny that at all. But we are still animals. We still have our animal impulses. We're still pretty damn stupid sometimes too. We've known for decades that cigarettes are deadly, and yet 20% of people still smoke them. And then another 10ish% vape instead. We still have bigotry, which tends to be founded on nothing more than just "they're different so I don't like it." We still have wars over nothing. We still allow those wars because we're too stuck in our own heads to stop them. People join cults just because some guy talks good. They think the earth is flat. Even when people do good things with their brains like create vaccines to fight diseases, there are people that think that's bad. They play the lottery even when they know nobody ever wins. They go to casinos and sink the hard earned money they have just for a chance to maybe get a reward. They scroll Tiktok for hours because they don't want to get off the couch. They play video games about doing work instead of actually working 'cause it's cozier. They get nervous because they might have to make a phone call, or see a friend. I still fucking use Twitter for some reason even though every time I look at the app I just get angry, upset, or both. I could go on and on and on.
 
And I'm not trying to call anyone out here. I personally do some to a lot of those things depending on the day. It is objectively stupid. But, that's the thing. We are stupid. And that's okay.
 
Let's take a step back here and really look at what we're talking about. Animals and humans dating. Is there potential for humans to manipulate or train dogs into unhealthy relationships? Absolutely, and that sucks. But that doesn't mean that relationships in general are always that. Humans are absolutely dumb enough that one could do that to another one, using things like money or drugs as "treats". That's a thing that for sure happens. And I would argue that's a bad thing, just like it is with humans and animals. But the fact that a human is dumb enough to get into that kind of relationship doesn't mean that humans are too dumb to get into relationships with other humans. It just means that abuse is bad. 
 
So maybe my partner doesn't remember our anniversary in the same way I do. He doesn't plan out dates like I do. He doesn't call me his partner, or write articles about how much he loves me. Does that mean that he's not smart? I don't think so. Dogs live more in the moment than we do. Stupidly, I think that I need some kind of special day to celebrate our relationship, whereas he's always ready to do that whenever the mood strikes. 
 
Humans are stupid. I think the bias against zoosexuality is proof enough of that. We might be able to speak, but when we're told something we don't bother questioning it. We've created the tools to communicate together as a species and we just use it to believe other people's opinions. We are creatures of the earth, just like animals are. We have our strengths, but those don't set us apart as some other class of being. And to say that either we're too smart or animals are too dumb to be together just shows how little humans really understand. 
 
 
 
 
Article written by Tarro (November 2025) 
Questions, comments or concerns? Check out our Matrix server! https://join.zooey.pub 

Related posts

Humans Can't Consent

Humans can't consent. It's true. They can't. As someone who's only had sex with animals, I feel like it's my…