Humans As Ultra-Cooperative Great Apes

Unique among mammals, great apes have evolved to be rational agents: (i) they metacognitively monitor their decision making and correct themselves or gather new information as needed; (ii) they understand why things happen in terms of the causal structure of the physical world and the intentional structure of the social world. Building on this foundation, humans have evolved in addition species-unique skills and motivations for collaboration and cultural life – shared agency and intentionality - which have made possible almost all of their most distinctive cognitive and cultural achievements.