81–90 of 277 posts
> “I think sociality, or at least attention to social information, is way more deep-rooted in the evolutionary tree than we might think,”
Maybe, or maybe the neural power required to move all of those limbs is good enough at processing that they developed their own sophisticated behavior.
Seems like they're reading a lot into why the Octopus is punching those fish that are just hanging around them.
I agree, and one thing that makes me skeptical is that for it to be effective, the fish being punched would presumably have to understand that the octopus wants it to act in a certain way - i.e., the hypothesis seems to imply that the fish has a theory of mind with respect to the octopus. Similarly, it seems to imply that the octopus has a theory of mind about the fish - it believes that the fish will understand why…
Octopuses are much more intelligent than many give them credit for, but sadly I also love takoyaki (but then again, eating horse and whale is also culturally acceptable in Japan, one of the few countries that allow it; I've tried both as well, they're pretty good).
I think you can even eat raw horse meat in France. https://www.vice.com/en/article/inside-frances-fading-love-a...
aside: me after reading the headline: Shouldn't that be Octopii? But no! "The plural form octopii is doubly incorrect. Firstly, octopus derives from Greek, not Latin; its etymologically-consistent plural form is octopodes. Secondly, even if octopus were a second-declension Latin noun, the plural form would be octopi; in the correct plurals radii and gladii, with which octopii is analogous, the first ‘i’s are part of…
So the plural of virus, if it wouldn't have been viruses, would be viri, not virii? I think for octopus I'd have intuitively thought octopi, but for virus I'd have thought virii.
aside: me after reading the headline: Shouldn't that be Octopii? But no! "The plural form octopii is doubly incorrect. Firstly, octopus derives from Greek, not Latin; its etymologically-consistent plural form is octopodes. Secondly, even if octopus were a second-declension Latin noun, the plural form would be octopi; in the correct plurals radii and gladii, with which octopii is analogous, the first ‘i’s are part of…
I’m sure I read a sci-fi novel some years back where one of the main characters selectively breeds octopuses for intelligence before dropping them on a terraformed planet and there was a small bit about how he didn’t like octopuses either and so called them octopii. I’m in his boat ;) fun book, forgot the name.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
But more generally, enough generations have passed that "octopus" is no longer a foreign word, it's now just part of the English lexicon, and so you're free to pluralize it in the standard English manner. "Octopuses" is correct by that reasoning. Note that this is the same process that we eventually apply to every other loanword; next time you talk to a German, watch them cringe at "delicatessens" as the plural to "d…
Delicatessen itself is a French loanword (délicatesse) in German that's wrongly pluralized, it should be délicatesses not delicatessen. So it's like doubly wrong.
aside: me after reading the headline: Shouldn't that be Octopii? But no! "The plural form octopii is doubly incorrect. Firstly, octopus derives from Greek, not Latin; its etymologically-consistent plural form is octopodes. Secondly, even if octopus were a second-declension Latin noun, the plural form would be octopi; in the correct plurals radii and gladii, with which octopii is analogous, the first ‘i’s are part of…
I’m sure I read a sci-fi novel some years back where one of the main characters selectively breeds octopuses for intelligence before dropping them on a terraformed planet and there was a small bit about how he didn’t like octopuses either and so called them octopii. I’m in his boat ;) fun book, forgot the name.
aside: me after reading the headline: Shouldn't that be Octopii? But no! "The plural form octopii is doubly incorrect. Firstly, octopus derives from Greek, not Latin; its etymologically-consistent plural form is octopodes. Secondly, even if octopus were a second-declension Latin noun, the plural form would be octopi; in the correct plurals radii and gladii, with which octopii is analogous, the first ‘i’s are part of…
I used to love eating octopus, but since I've learned so much about their intelligence, I have not been able to bring myself to do so, anymore. I have the luxury of choice. There are many, in this world, that do not.