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As I understand it they have very short lifespans (3-5 years) and octopus mothers only lay eggs once. They die of starvation after guarding & tending the eggs r
by bamurphymac1 7y ago
As I understand it they have very short lifespans (3-5 years) and octopus mothers only lay eggs once. They die of starvation after guarding & tending the eggs right up to hatching.
I think they just don’t have the opportunity to produce culture. Maybe they could be taught but it seems like generational learning would be extremely unlikely.
Edit: their situation has always struck me as very poetic and sad. If they are conscious their existence seems so lonely. But maybe that’s just my mammalian bias!
- agency 7y agoFWIW I think that behavior may be specific to the Giant Pacific octopus[1]. I'm not sure if other octopuses (octopi? octopodes?) behave the same way. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Pacific_octopus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Pacific_octopus
- therein 7y agoAs far as my understanding goes, the octopuses that don't exhibit that behavior are the exception to the rule instead.
- TeMPOraL 7y agoMaybe they would be a better candidate for uplift than dolphins then? We could start out by fixing their lifespans (apparently it's a surgically resolvable problem, see [0]), and seeing what happens. -- [0] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21086642 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21086642