People are amazing creatures. Our brain uses up to 25% of the total energy our body needs every day. In a relatively short period of evolution, its size has increased substantially, allowing us to leave our ape ancestors behind. So, does this mean that the human brain can be called special? But no, Susana Herculano-Husel is trying to prove that the size of our brain is not that important. Only the cerebral cortex and the number of neurons matter. All this happened thanks to the invention by our ancestors about 1.5 million years ago of a more efficient way to obtain calories: cooking. Eating more calories in a small amount of time allowed our brains to gain more neurons in the still rather small cerebral cortex, which is responsible for pattern-finding, reasoning and technology development. This is an original look at how the process of becoming extraordinary was nothing special.