Each species has its own technological and social structure that is pretty much impossible to duplicate with other species.
Can a human build an ant colony, populate it, create a social structure and devise the technological means for ants to become better at how they live, interact and communicate? Ants go hunting, have wars with other colonies and make baby ants. They have a social structure, homes and while I cannot confirm or deny it, take the family on outings, primarily to picnics
The human race is doing what we do for the betterment of the human race. Ants do what they do for their betterment. Right now there is an ant colony having a town hall, voting on whether the Pelosi and Schumer ant should be fed to a bunch of neonazi spiders.
I would disagree somewhat.
Man is above other earthly creatures. But lower than the angels. What puts us lower than angels is our current organic bodies.
What puts us above the other earthly creatures is the quantum entanglement God imparted upon us and our incorruptible spirit selves.
And that definitely is something which requires a higher intelligence in order to grasp its meaning. However, the actual qualitative difference is not the degree of intelligence, but rather in the possession of knowledge.
We as animals have instincts / learned behaviors / etc. We as humans also possess revealed wisdom regarding good and evil.
More to your point... I say it is a unique characteristic of ours that we do NOT simply do what we do 'for the betterment of the human race'.
But rather for both Higher reasons and lower.
“Can a human build an ant colony, populate it, create a social structure and devise the technological means for ants to become better at how they live, interact and communicate?”
Housing project comes to mind. Not as industrious, but the hive mentality is on display.
Until we learn to communicate with honey bees and understand the complexity of their society, we need not even attempt to communicate with extraterrestrials.
We've been doing that for millenia.
But slave plantations are out of style in America today.
Because of, as I mentioned above, human's unique possession of the knowledge of Good and evil.
We CAN do it, but mostly we don't.