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Just how smart is an octopus?

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Re: Just how smart is an octopus?

#121

Post by vdnkh »

Nexxxeh wrote: post #9

I love how completely alien they are compared to us. The sort of decentralized nature of their nervous system compared to our path of evolution. (I'm no marine/evolutionary biologist so I'm probably butchering the terminology...) I loved reading the two pieces Sy Montgomery wrote that are in Orion Magazine. https://orionmagazine.org/article/deep-intellect/ And the follow-up: https://orionmagazine.org/2011/11/intervie…

>I love how completely alien they are compared to us.

If you want to read a book which takes this idea to the extreme check out Solaris by Stanislaw Lem. It deals with a living ocean which has been completely incomprehensible to humans for hundreds of years - a neat thought exercise on the limits of knowledge.

Re: Just how smart is an octopus?

#122

Post by donretag »

maxxxxx wrote: post #59
jnbiche wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but a dog's got personality. Personality goes a long way.

Having dealt with both I would rate pigs higher in personality than dogs. They are very smart, learn stuff quickly and definitely have individual personalities. I always find it very hypocritical that the same people who have no problem eating pork are outraged over people eating dogs in Asia.

The issue with dogs is that there are no dog farms. All of the dogs eaten are stolen or taken from the street.

Re: Just how smart is an octopus?

#124

Post by perseusprime11 »

komali2 wrote: post #64

Total anecdote here, but when I volunteered at our aquarium in Charleston, SC (amazing aquarium, go check it out), we had a problem where our flounder were vanishing from their tank. We suspected theft and so put a camera up in the back room. The next time flounder disappeared we checked the feed - one of our octopi was escaping from his tank that we thought we had already anti-octopus'd, climbing over the walls, bre…

Perfect setup for Octopusnado

Re: Just how smart is an octopus?

#125

Post by AndrewOMartin »

fibbery wrote: post #75
ch4s3 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well pigs are smarter than dogs, and many people eat them.

Personally, I don't eat anything above a certain (arbitrarily defined) intelligence threshold. So octopus and pig are out. Chicken, however...

I've got bad news for you buddy. :)

(2 January 2017) http://www.springer.com/gp/about-springer/media/research-new...

Re: Just how smart is an octopus?

#126

Post by eridius »

komali2 wrote: post #64

Total anecdote here, but when I volunteered at our aquarium in Charleston, SC (amazing aquarium, go check it out), we had a problem where our flounder were vanishing from their tank. We suspected theft and so put a camera up in the back room. The next time flounder disappeared we checked the feed - one of our octopi was escaping from his tank that we thought we had already anti-octopus'd, climbing over the walls, bre…

This reminds me of one of my favorite chainsawsuit comics - http://chainsawsuit.com/comic/2013/08/29/the-cephalopod-gamb...

Re: Just how smart is an octopus?

#127

Post by eridius »

FreeFull wrote: post #115
tzs wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fortunately for us, they have two biological strikes against developing that kind of culture. 1. They have short lifespans, limiting how much knowledge and wisdom an individual can acquire over its lifetime. 2. Reproduction is fatal. Males dies a few months after mating. Females spend all their time after the eggs are laid guarding them, and neglect to eat. They die of starvation around the time the eggs hatch. The o…

I also suspect it's a lot harder to advance technologically when you live underwater. One of the big boosts to human evolution was the mastery of fire and development of cooking.

Also booze. The desire to make our own alcohol is what triggered the spread of agriculture, if I remember my old history classes correctly.

Re: Just how smart is an octopus?

#128

Post by maxxxxx »

donretag wrote: post #122
maxxxxx wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having dealt with both I would rate pigs higher in personality than dogs. They are very smart, learn stuff quickly and definitely have individual personalities. I always find it very hypocritical that the same people who have no problem eating pork are outraged over people eating dogs in Asia.

The issue with dogs is that there are no dog farms. All of the dogs eaten are stolen or taken from the street.

I think people would still be outraged if there were dog farms. Especially if the living conditions wee like in pig farms.

Re: Just how smart is an octopus?

#129

Post by frenchy »

pacaro wrote: post #72
komali2 wrote: post #64

Total anecdote here, but when I volunteered at our aquarium in Charleston, SC (amazing aquarium, go check it out), we had a problem where our flounder were vanishing from their tank. We suspected theft and so put a camera up in the back room. The next time flounder disappeared we checked the feed - one of our octopi was escaping from his tank that we thought we had already anti-octopus'd, climbing over the walls, bre…

Pedantic mode here: linguistically it should be octopodes (but nobody who isn't speaking Greek would say that); by usage it should be octopuses; octopi or octopii are just wrong (it's not a second declension noun, despite the 'us' ending)

Linguistically this is known as reanalysis.

Re: Just how smart is an octopus?

#130

Post by bduerst »

tzs wrote: post #84
bduerst wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went diving with a retired marine biologist who said, half-jokingly, that if octopodes had ever formed the same tribal culture as primates that we would have been competing with them for dominance at some point.

Fortunately for us, they have two biological strikes against developing that kind of culture. 1. They have short lifespans, limiting how much knowledge and wisdom an individual can acquire over its lifetime. 2. Reproduction is fatal. Males dies a few months after mating. Females spend all their time after the eggs are laid guarding them, and neglect to eat. They die of starvation around the time the eggs hatch. The o…

I think you've identified precisely why tribal culture would have helped octopodes: (never thought I'd be saying that today)

1. Before writing, technology was passed down through word of mouth from elders to younger generations in tribes.

2. Rearing/protecting young is assigned to specialized members of the tribe while others hunt/gather resources.

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