Gregg, you`re separating the things that make varanids very different from other reptiles; ALL of their adaptations together enable them to function more efficiently in their day to day lives, having those adaptations also means their cognative abilities are improved, you need to look at the whole package!
I truly hope you watch the videos.
And from a thread that started out (it seems to me) as one person against another, this has turned into an excellent dicussion, and the best thing of all would be if you learned something new that will probably increase your fascination with these animals... They ARE "special"!