Ricardo, the protagonist in my novel Jellyfish Have Eyes speculated that jellyfish are smarter than we think, that they have a brain of sorts, and that they interact in jellyfish lingo that we don’t understand – gibberish talk.

Jellyfish may be a bit extreme, but I think Ricardo makes his point: don’t be too sure that we’re the only smart guys of this planet.

Last night at my monthly movie club meeting, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari came up briefly for discussion. Most agreed with Harari’s opinion that abstract thought is limited to humans, and that’s why they – we – have taken over the planet. Maybe. But thinking of Ricardo, although fiction, I said that we don’t understand the language of any species, so who are we to say what they are thinking?

James Nestor seems to agree with Ricardo and me. Nestor’s article, “A Conversation with Whales,” in the NY Times says how sperm whales, the largest predators on the planet, communicate with each other by sophisticated clicks.

He tells us that these whales live in close-knit societies, are raised my matriarchal units comprising three generations, share regional dialects and (get this) family nicknames.

Eat your heart out, Ricardo: whales trump jellyfish.

But that’s not all. Here’s the amazing part. Science today correlates behavior and thought with compartments in our large, complex brains that we are so proud of. Good for us. Informative. Impressive. Our frontal cortex seems pivotal for our thinking brilliance, our ability for abstract thought. At least that’s what I understand.

But wait. Nestor writes: “Sperm whales’ brains are the largest ever known, around six times the size of humans’. They have an oversized neocortex and a profusion of highly developed neurons called spindle cells that, in humans, govern things like emotional suffering, compassion and speech.”

Remember, we don’t speak “spermeese.” How can we judge what is said by interpreting the incomprehensible gibberish we hear from whales or any other species?

Need I go on?

A little humility is in order. So is a lot more research.

Way to go, Ricardo. Maybe jellyfish won’t supply all the answers, but they do raise questions, and the animal kingdom is huge. We’re only a small part of it.