In Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness
These two paths diverged over when our last common ancestor was likely a tiny, primitive worm. This means the "mind" of an octopus was built using an entirely different biological "blueprint" than our own. Key Scientific and Philosophical Arguments Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep...
(2016), Australian philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith explores the evolution of intelligence through a unique lens: the In Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and
Octopuses possess massive brains and incredible intelligence but live only one to two years . The author uses the Medawar-Williams theory of aging to explain this: because octopuses are so vulnerable to predators in the wild, evolution never selected for a longer life. The author uses the Medawar-Williams theory of aging
The book's central premise is that high-level intelligence evolved at least on Earth: Vertebrates: Leads to humans, mammals, and birds. Cephalopods: Leads to octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish.
Unlike humans, whose neurons are centralized in a brain, an octopus’s nervous system is distributed . Most of its 500 million neurons are in its arms, which can touch, taste, and act independently of the central brain—functioning like "semi-autonomous agents".