Why are humans the only species that reads fiction, tells jokes, and shares photos on Instagram? In this talk, I will explore this question of human uniqueness by examining what makes the human mind so different from that of other animals. I will first discuss recent work in comparative cognition that shows a number of ways that other animals are strikingly similar to humans in the way they think about the world. I will also explore some key cognitive differences between humans and other animals that make the human species different from other animals but also a bit less rational than you might expect.