Just based on their psychology, intelligence, behavior.
Rule the world in a socially beneficial way, conscious of
other species…smart, responsible, caring, good role models, able to coexist with species different from them and think of the bigger picture before themselves: keeping ecosystems and Mother Nature at large, alive and thriving.
You know, not like those other guys that won’t be around much longer with
their greed, war, overconsumption, environmental degradation, and reality TV.
None; other species simply lack the intelligence to even conceive of trying. And humans are actually quite nice compared to most species; we do plenty of damage because we are powerful and clever, because we are good at it; not because we are nastier than other species.
None. Humans are by far the most altruistic animals ever to evolve. (Within a colony, worker ants ants and other social insects are more altruistic, but in these species colonies are better considered to be single superorganisms than the individual insects, and colonies compete with one another.) Our altruism sometimes not only extends to non-related individuals within our own species, but even to other species. Any other species would be far more selfish regarding their own interests versus that of other species.
The OP asks about a species better able to “rule the world.” Dolphins aren’t interested in ruling the world. Of course this makes their impact on the planet less than ours, but they aren’t exactly an answer to the question.
Do humans really rule the world? I think we humans have largely agreed that dying from infections is bad, but that hasn’t stopped bacteria from killing scores of us with impunity. If we’re really in charge, then clearly bacteria is above the law. But look at it from their point of view: they’ve been around since the beginning, whereas us uppity multi-cellular lifeforms just suddenly waltzed in and are already claiming we own the place.
Dolphins are assholes!
Apart from humans, the only animals that give half a shit about any other species are dogs (who care about humans). I wouldn’t want them ruling the world, though.
It seems that quite a few domesticated species will exhibit that type of behavior not just toward humans but sometimes toward other species. Because of humans.
I think a lily pad with human-level IQ would very quickly go insane, because of its total inability to do anything. Do you want to be ruled by insane plants?!
Would you notice if you were? And how do you test a lily’s IQ anyway?
The problem with other animals is that when they start screwing up, they don’t have the brains to correct things. We have the brains, but can’t decide what needs to be fixed.
