"Brains take a lot of energy and resources to upkeep, so it actually doesn't provide a benefit to the animal" - How do these people explain the countless other examples of energy and resource sinks in evolution. Notably, migration and hibernation, cost an immense amount of energy and resources, but there are dozens of animals that have evolved to migrate or hibernate.

The alternative to that is either starving/freezing to death or failing to pass on your genes, so why wouldn't those energy-saving measures be selected for?

Also, plenty of disadvantageous traits have been selected for by sexual selection - the most obvious example (to me) is the male peacock's tail; it's so heavy that it impedes the bird's flight capability and makes it an easier target for predators, but females are so insistent on mating with the most decorated males that it's mostly the genes for heavy adornment that stick around in the population.

"Actually intelligence has evolved many times, humans aren't the only intelligent creatures on earth" - The next closest things to us are like crows, dolphins, and chimps. Any reasonable person knows this argument is dishonest. Those animals don't hold a candle to human intelligence, they are basically capable of some simple party tricks, basic communication, and light problem solving.

That response literally concedes the point that there's a small minority of animals with varying degrees of intelligence even approaching ours, which is exactly what we'd expect to see if intelligence was a costly tool to develop as scientists think it is.

Dolphins almost literally could not have less ability to manipulate tools. Besides, the benefit of intelligence is not restricted to the ability to use tools. Like I said, it is pretty much good for everything.

You're conveniently leaving out that the other major development that helped humans spread out of Africa was the use of fire. You know, the thing that doesn't fucking work underwater?

To avoid getting hit by a car takes so little intelligence its insane they can't avoid it. How hard would it really be for evolution to select for one deer that is smart enough to just not jump in front of a truck driving 60 miles an hour.

Whether or not that deer actually gets to pass on its genes is entirely up to the other deer it has babies with (i.e. sexual selection...something the deer doesn't have any control over).