All these bequests of your bigger brain cortex mean you can gather four generations around a meal to exchange banter and gossip, turn information into knowledge and even practice the art of what-not-to-say-when.

You may even want to be thankful for another achievement of our neuron-crammed human cortices: All the technology that allows people spread over the globe to come together in person, on screens, or through words whispered directly into your ears long distance.