4 ms·
A bit off-topic, but a thing I've always found puzzling is octopus intelligence. They aren't especially social (as far as we know, unless you count their arms
by kkylin 9y ago
A bit off-topic, but a thing I've always found puzzling is octopus intelligence. They aren't especially social (as far as we know, unless you count their arms as semi-independent beings), they don't really live all that long, and don't teach their young anything (they don't raise their young and die soon after mating).
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus
- pascalculator 9y agoI've heard some people claim that it's not necessarily the brain/body size ratio that determines intelligence, but the ability to manipulate the world around you. An octopus has 8 appendages, a dolphin has none (maybe its snout and tail could count as two, but are not nearly as efficient as an octupus's arm). I've never seen any research that backs this up, but I'd love to read some more about these claims. If anyone cares to elaborate? And you'd be surprised about how little we know about animal intelligence. You should look into the psychology professor Irene Pepperberg and her parrot Alex (Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Pepperberg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Pepperberg). Fascinating.
- ubernostrum 9y agoArthur C. Clarke had a story -- "Second Dawn", if you want to look it up -- playing with the theme of intelligent beings who were unable to do much physical manipulation of the world around them.
- _alias 9y agoDolphins can communicate thereby changing the behavior of their peers. This could be viewed as a form of manipulation.
- grondilu 9y agoI'm personally not too surprised. The sea is a complex environment and octopuses are invertebrates in a mostly vertebrate-dominated world. They need to outsmart both their preys and predators.