What prevents other animals/species from evolving and developing cognitively the same way humans have?
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There are a number of quite intelligent species, displaying a range of human abilities. Octopuses, corvids (ravens, crows and that family), true parrots, other primates etc.
They display advanced problem solving and predictive skills, tool usage, language, complex social behaviours (crows seem to tell eachother about “bad people” they haven’t personally met). Some animals are significantly better than humans at certain complex tasks and features (memory, navigation, cooperation etc.).
There’s even the apocryphal joke from a Yellowstone Ranger how there’s “a significant overlap between the dumbest tourists and smartest bears” (in the context of bear-proof but human-accesible bins).
So the fact is that there isn’t one single thing that elevates humans over animals, some single hurdle to clear. To the best of my knowledge, what allowed humanity to surpass animals is complex speech and dextrous hands.
One for allowing ideas to transcend any single individual and allow progress of a group. Again, species like crows seem to have the same ability (mind, this is still being researched). Other species, like chimps, have rather limited language, so a limited ability to pass on ideas.
The other for complex interaction with the world. Making complex tools, and eventually writing (which ties in to complex soeech, I suppose). Even other toolmaking species don’t have a human’s capacity.
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