"We," as in the human race. (Remember Clever Hans was a horse, being watched by us.)

However, even on an individual level, haven't you ever had a new idea that didn't come from another person but just your own observation and contemplation?

The human race watches itself. It creates ideas of supreme beings so that its subjects will mirror and copy behaviours deemed to be "supreme".

And the human race is not smarter than the human race, which is why we are not in a Clever Hans situation. There's no hidden signal, telling us when to stop, that allows us to fool other smarter creatures into thinking we're as smart as they are when we are actually just mimicking them. We're just humans, learning from nature and from other humans, and that's just culture.

I think it's comparable, it's just that nature is a much more consistent teacher than Hans' handler was.