This quote is taken from a book, Hope, A Survival Guide for Trying Times. It is the text of an interview of Jane Goodall by Douglas Abrams.
I think that it was the explosion of human intellect that took a rather weak and unexceptional species of historic apes and turned them into the self-appointed masters of the world.
(Abrams) But if we’re so much more intelligent than other animals, how come we do so many stupid things?
That’s why I say ‘intellectual’ rather than ‘intelligent’. An intelligent animal would not destroy its only home – which is what we have been doing for a long time. Of course, some people are indeed highly intelligent, but so many are not. We labelled ourselves Homo sapiens, the wise man, but unfortunately there is not enough wisdom in the world today.
Jane Goodall is a naturalist. She studied and lived with chimpanzees in Tanzania for 40 years
Comment: It was Linnaeus who coined the term homo sapiens. That probably reflected his family and colleagues; he did not take account of homo stultus.
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