Crows are even smarter than we thought

Human assumptions about animal intelligence

• Many argue it’s odd we’re still “surprised” by smart animals; they see this as a form of human arrogance, akin to old ideas like Earth being the center of the universe.
• Others say it is surprising because humans still appear qualitatively different, though when you try to define the difference, exceptions (e.g., animal tool use) appear.

Crow cognition and capacities

• Crows and other corvids are cited as having dense, efficient brains, complex social structures, tool use, multi-step planning, and even apparent cooperation with other species (e.g., guiding wolves to carcasses).
• The new result about “mental templates” is seen as an extension of prior work on New Caledonian crows and other birds; some note the real novelty is that such abilities may be more widespread across crow species.
• There is debate over whether behaviors are “true” flexible learning vs. instinctive or mimicry-based.

Anecdotal observations

• Numerous stories: crows recognizing individual humans for years, sharing information about “dangerous” people, holding grudges, leaving gifts (often shiny objects), and “protecting” properties from other animals.
• Several accounts describe crows coordinating attacks, mobbing predators or disliked humans, and seemingly mourning or defending dead conspecifics.
• Some feed crows and receive repeated behavioral responses (communication calls, glass fragments as “payment,” etc.).

Comparisons to AI and definitions of intelligence

• Some compare crow intelligence to large language models: smaller systems can still reason within limited domains; frozen models are likened to “brains” stuck at inference-only.
• Multiple commenters stress that “intelligence” is poorly defined and context-dependent; many species may surpass humans in specific domains (echolocation, distributed control, instinctive skills).
• There’s debate over whether all life is “intelligent” vs. reserving the term for adaptive, general-purpose cognition.

Ethics, status, and human exceptionalism

• Several argue that recognizing animal intelligence should impact how we treat and eat other species, while others emphasize human cognitive uniqueness (language, symbolic thought, meta-cognition, rapid learning in children).
• Some frame human specialness less as raw intelligence and more as hands, fire, social accumulation of knowledge, and ego or motivation.

Methodological and interpretive cautions

• A few question experimental details (number/complexity of shapes, “good enough” fits, imprinting flexibility).
• There is general appreciation for the study but pushback on sensational headlines like “smarter than we thought.”