Why Only Humans Ask “Why”: What Science Reveals About the Soul Beyond Evolution

For decades, popular science has claimed that apes possess near-human intelligence — capable of communication, learning, and even emotion. However, when researchers began investigating these claims more closely, a very different picture emerged.

The Myth of “Talking Apes”

Early experiments on primate communication — once celebrated as revolutionary — were later heavily criticized by the scientific community. Many “researchers” had simply trained apes to mimic human gestures or perform rehearsed sign-language movements before cameras. These actions gave the illusion of thought, but not genuine understanding.

When independent teams later repeated those studies under controlled conditions, the results were clear: apes do not possess abstract reasoning or the ability to form meaningful sentences. Their communication is instinctive, not conceptual.

Sadly, outdated studies are still cited today to promote the illusion of “human-like” intelligence in apes — a claim modern research no longer supports.

What Modern Science Really Shows

When properly tested, even the most intelligent great apes such as chimpanzees, bonobos, or gorillas, demonstrate a cognitive level comparable to a human toddler of about two years old.

Researchers taught apes sign language to see whether they could express independent thought. The results were striking: apes could respond to questions, but they never asked their own.

From Wikipedia’s summary of great ape language studies: “Despite their achievements, apes trained in language never asked questions on their own. They learned to respond using words like ‘who,’ ‘why,’ and ‘where,’ but never initiated questions themselves.”

As researchers David and Ann Premack observed: “Although the chimpanzee understood questions, she never asked any — unlike a child who constantly asks, ‘Why is this so? Who made that noise? When is Daddy coming home? Where’s the dog?’ The chimpanzee never asked where her trainer went or why she was gone.”

Even after long absences, apes did not use sign language to ask where the researcher had been or what had happened. They simply accepted the situation as it was.

The Profound Difference Between Man and Animal

This lack of curiosity highlights a deep truth: animals live fully within nature — they are part of it, not observers of it. Their behavior follows instinctive programming. They do not wonder why the world is as it is; they simply exist within it.

To ask why, one must be aware of being separate from the world — an observer, a consciousness capable of reflection.

This is what defines the human being. Even a small child, long before mastering logic or speech, begins to ask: “Why? How? Where?” These questions reveal a soul that perceives beyond physical existence.

The Soul as the Source of Human Awareness

The Torah expresses this difference with timeless clarity: “And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Bereishit 2:7).

Humanity is not merely biological; it is spiritual. God’s “breath” — the soul — grants human beings consciousness, curiosity, and the drive to seek truth.

Even a toddler, with limited words and understanding, reveals this divine spark through endless questioning. Every “Why?” and “How?” is a whisper of the soul, testifying that humans are more than matter — we are minds and spirits, yearning to understand the world and our purpose within it.

Modern science, far from disproving the Torah, reinforces its insight: no experiment has ever bridged the infinite gap between instinct and intellect, between reaction and reflection, between animal life and human soul.

The difference is not of degree — it is of kind. Only the human being asks “Why?” That simple question points us back to the One who gave us the power to ask it.