Mindy Thomas (6:52)

Wee. Wow. Will be right back. Grown ups, this message is for you. That's it. Now back to the show.

Dennis (7:02)

What in the world?

Mindy Thomas (7:06)

Hey, Guy Raz.

Guy Raz (7:08)

Hello, Mindy.

Mindy Thomas (7:09)

How's it going, buddy?

Guy Raz (7:09)

It's going well, thanks.

Mindy Thomas (7:10)

So I've got a serious question for you.

Guy Raz (7:13)

Okay.

Mindy Thomas (7:13)

What kind of dog loves to take baths?

Guy Raz (7:17)

Well, actually, Minnie.

Mindy Thomas (7:18)

Okay, Guy Raz, it's a joke. What kind of dog loves to take a bath?

Dennis (7:22)

A shampoodle. Huh?

Mindy Thomas (7:25)

Okay, moving right along.

Guy Raz (7:26)

Well, actually, Mindy, that brings me to a science story.

Mindy Thomas (7:29)

Ooh, I love stories. What do you have?

Guy Raz (7:31)

Well, you know that old saying about humans and dogs?

Mindy Thomas (7:35)

Oh, yeah. Never eat a dog unless it's in a bun. Mindy, it was something like, never eat a dog if it can run, like, away from you. I don't know, Guy Raz. I don't know what the saying is.

Guy Raz (7:47)

Actually. The old saying I was thinking about, Mindy, is dogs are man's best friends.

Mindy Thomas (7:54)

Never heard that one.

Guy Raz (7:55)

We call dogs our best friends because, you know, they're loyal and loving no matter what. Even on a bad day.

Mindy Thomas (8:02)

Or a bun.

Guy Raz (8:03)

You know, even on a bad day, Mindy, your dog will still love you.

Mindy Thomas (8:06)

Yeah, and it'll show you that love by slobbering all over your face and eating your shoes.

Guy Raz (8:11)

But, Mindy, the reason why dogs and humans are such good pals might have something to do with evolution.

Mindy Thomas (8:18)

Oh, evolution. So, like the way we've changed over millions of years?

Guy Raz (8:22)

Exactly. We humans have changed over time. We've had to learn how to cooperate with each other in order to make sure that we survive.

Mindy Thomas (8:31)

Oh, we know all about cooperation, Guy Raz. Do you remember that one time I asked you to put your cell phone in the aquarium so that I could talk to the fish? And you didn't want to do it, but you did it anyway because you're a good friend and also because you fell into it. That was cooperation.

Guy Raz (8:46)

Yeah, exactly. And, you know, long, long before humans had cities or horses or supermarkets or.

Mindy Thomas (8:54)

Or airports or taco trucks.

Guy Raz (8:56)

Yeah, right, right. Long before we had all of those things, Mindy. We had to find food out in the wild. And over time, we figured out that if we were going to make it on this planet, we had to work together. So some people would look for food, other people would build places to live, other people would cook the food, Basically, we had to become friendly.

Mindy Thomas (9:19)

Hello.

Dennis (9:19)

Hi.

Mindy Thomas (9:20)

So, survival of the friendliest.

Guy Raz (9:23)

Exactly. Humans had to become friendly because, as any kid knows, Mindy, by being friendly, you are more likely to get what you want.

Mindy Thomas (9:33)

Okay, I think I've got this. So say I want you to give me 100 bucks. I might say something to you like, Guy Raz, you're looking so dashing today, I hardly even recognized it was you. Uh, yeah, no, that's not it.

Guy Raz (9:48)

Anyway, Mindy, friendliness is how early humans were, in one sense able to become the most dominant species on planet Earth.

Mindy Thomas (9:57)

Okay, and just to be sure, when you say species, you mean groups of living creatures, right?

Guy Raz (10:01)

Yeah, but not just creatures, Mindy. A species is a similar group of living things that create more of that same species. So, for example, cats are a species. So are horses and tigers, but so are plants and flowers, like the water hyacinth, and even things like garlic and fruit flies. And. And of course, our nearest relatives, chimpanzees, knew it.

Mindy Thomas (10:26)

Guy Raz, I took one look at your toes last summer and knew that your great grandma had to have been a chimpanzee.

Guy Raz (10:33)

Well, we're not really relatives in that sense. We actually broke away from chimpanzees about 7 million years ago. So not like in our family. But yes, we humans are distant relatives of chimps. We are different, of course, very different than chimps. But out of all the species on Earth, they are the closest ones to us.

Mindy Thomas (10:54)

Wait a minute. So does this mean that chimps are also friendly in the same way that humans are?

Guy Raz (10:59)

Well, it's interesting you ask, Mindy, because when it comes to friendliness, our closest animal relatives might be.

Mindy Thomas (11:07)

Ooh, ooh. Pygmy.

Guy Raz (11:08)

You want to take a guess?

Mindy Thomas (11:09)

Is it man's best friend?

Guy Raz (11:11)

That's exactly right, Mindy. Dogs.

Mindy Thomas (11:14)

So how do we even know this?

Guy Raz (11:15)

Well, Mindy, scientists at the University of Arizona recently discovered that dogs and two year old humans show similar patterns of something called social intelligence.

Mindy Thomas (11:27)

Okay, so I don't want to sound socially unintelligent, Guy Raz, but what exactly does that mean?

Guy Raz (11:33)

Well, it means that among all creatures, dogs seem to be able to understand what's going on around them in ways that are similar to a two year old kid.

Mindy Thomas (11:43)

Wow. So how do we even know this?

Guy Raz (11:45)

Well, the scientists at the University of Arizona took a group of chimps and a group of dogs, and they gave them some brain games to play. So, for example, the scientists would hide a toy in a room, and then they'd start to look in the direction of the toy, or even point their fingers to the part of the room where the toys were hidden. And lo and behold, the dogs would stand up and walk to that part of the room and find the toys. But when it came to the chimps, Mindy, they would just sit on their bottoms and do nothing.

Mindy Thomas (12:19)

Wow, that's crazy town. So then what did the two year olds do, Mindy?

Guy Raz (12:24)

Those little humans did exactly the same thing the dogs did. And what's more is that the scientists found that dogs and the kids were better than the chimps at making eye contact, at looking right into the eyes of the scientists.

Mindy Thomas (12:39)

Such manners. So why is this a big deal?

Guy Raz (12:42)

Well, it's a big deal because making eye contact is an example of that term I mentioned earlier, social intellig. And it suggests, Mindy, that dogs, like humans, probably evolved or changed over millions of years to become friendly. As you said, survival of the friendliest.

Dennis (13:02)

That's so cool.

Mindy Thomas (13:03)

So, Guy Raz, now that we know about dogs, what does this discovery mean for us humans?

Guy Raz (13:08)

Well, Mindy, it's possible that we might be able to better understand when and how humans develop certain behaviors and why it's easier for some humans to be friendly, but sometimes harder for other humans to be friendly. We know that at around nine months, human babies start to understand what's going on around them. They start to notice how other people around them behave. And if we can get an even better understanding of how dogs have figured this out, it could help us crack the code about certain mysteries related to human behavior that we don't yet understand.

Mindy Thomas (13:46)

Yeah, like why we get the hiccups. Or why we can't sneeze with our eyes open. Or why we see in 3D. Or why we get bored. Or why our feet fall asleep when we sit on the toilet for too long. Or why we toot. Or why we daydream. Or why our cheeks turn red when we're embarrassed.

Dennis (14:00)

Gosh. Oh, wow. Cool. That was great. Dogs have as much social intelligence as two year old humans. Reggie, do you think I have as much social intelligence as a dog? Because one time on the Internet I saw a video of a dog that could ride a skateboard. What? Skateboarding isn't social intelligence? Oh, well, another time on the Internet, I saw a video of a dog popping bubbles with a raccoon. Is that social intelligence? Well, okay, maybe it's not social intelligence, but it was definitely adorable infectiousness. Well, that will just about do it for today listeners. If you have a question for me, remember to call and leave me a message at 1-888-7-WOW-WOW. That's 1-888-7-WWOW. I just might answer your question on Wee Wow on the weekend. Okay, let's do the Goodbye song. That's the end of the show. I have to go watch videos of dogs on the Internet, but I'll do another. But for now, that's the end of the show.

Guy Raz (15:20)

Eh?

Dennis (15:20)

Eh. Bye.

Mindy Thomas (15:27)

Grown ups. If you like wow in the world, you can listen early and ad free right now on Wondery.

Guy Raz (15:33)

Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Wondery Kids on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

Mindy Thomas (15:42)

And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey@wondery.com survey.