6 ms·

Given their intelligence, one wonders what they would be like if they lived say 20 years? Would they be ruling the oceans?

vharuck 6y ago
I've wondered this, too. If they lived long enough after the new generation is born, they might've developed language or some other communication system.
- anonAndOn 6y ago
  I thought they communicated via semaphore? Their cousins the cuttlefish certainly do.
  - vharuck 6y ago
    One researcher has seen "communication" in one species of octopus, but it's mostly looking big and dark to drive away others, or small and light before being driven away[0]. It's a very primitive communication, like rattlesnakes do to scare away dangers. Not the kind of complex system I was thinking of. I'm being very human-centric, though. It just seems like if they're intelligent enough to recognize individual faces, use tools, and learn from what other octopi do, a complex language would be inevitable. And from there they'd accrue oral histories and localized cultures. [0] https://www.livescience.com/53514-octopuses-lead-social-lives.html https://www.livescience.com/53514-octopuses-lead-social-live...
    - colechristensen 6y ago
      Their reproduction strategy would have to change, when you produce 100,000 eggs and die taking care of them there’s not much chance to develop culture.
  - seesaw 6y ago
    I highly recommend the Netflix documentary ’My Octopus Teacher‘. This is the story of a photographer diving everyday for a year, and developing a two way bond with an octopus.
koheripbal 6y ago
Especially true since living longer often means helping to raise and teach children - passing on knowledge. Many land animals are intelligent and raise children so it's not clearly the only requirement for advanced development. ....they do certainly have the finger like dexterity for fine object control though.
mindfulplay 6y ago
I find this amusing as this is an inherently human emotional evaluation. Perhaps that is not the point in the grand scheme of things? Octopuses have survived for 500+ millions of years and I would say more intelligent and peaceful than humans who 'ruled' or savaged their own species for... what benefit actually?
- Natsu 6y ago
  I'm not sure about the 'peaceful' claim, that seems to me to be something of a romanticism. It's called the 'law of the jungle' for a reason, after all, e.g. - https://www.livescience.com/47982-octopus-cannibalism-video-captured.html https://www.livescience.com/47982-octopus-cannibalism-video-... But I think it's true that human intelligence has made us have a greater impact on the world, both for good and for evil.
- r3trohack3r 6y ago
  A viable chance at getting off this rock. 500+ million years is a blink of an eye on a cosmic scale. Humans are the only species we’ve observed that has a viable chance or surviving on cosmic time scales; and we will likely bring other life along with us for that ride. Short of another human-equivalent species evolving, or a hyper resilient organism that can piggy back on space debris, humans are literally the only shot life on Earth has.
  - mindfulplay 6y ago
    Why does that matter? Why are humans so special? I 'feel' like octopuses are the better candidate :) putting aside trivial human aspirations....
    - r3trohack3r 6y ago
      When they successfully escape earths orbit, get back to me. Until then, all odds are stacked against them. They’re going to go extinct in an instant on a cosmic timescale. Unless, of course, humans choose to bring them along and save them from that fate.
wonderwonder 6y ago
If you like sci-fi, Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky plays with this concept. It's the second book in a series though, first being Children of Time. Super imaginative and well written, I really liked them.
agumonkey 6y ago
maybe self destroy their own species and so only the short lived one persist

vharuck 6y ago

I've wondered this, too. If they lived long enough after the new generation is born, they might've developed language or some other communication system.

anonAndOn 6y ago
I thought they communicated via semaphore? Their cousins the cuttlefish certainly do.
- vharuck 6y ago
  One researcher has seen "communication" in one species of octopus, but it's mostly looking big and dark to drive away others, or small and light before being driven away[0]. It's a very primitive communication, like rattlesnakes do to scare away dangers. Not the kind of complex system I was thinking of. I'm being very human-centric, though. It just seems like if they're intelligent enough to recognize individual faces, use tools, and learn from what other octopi do, a complex language would be inevitable. And from there they'd accrue oral histories and localized cultures. [0] https://www.livescience.com/53514-octopuses-lead-social-lives.html https://www.livescience.com/53514-octopuses-lead-social-live...
  - colechristensen 6y ago
    Their reproduction strategy would have to change, when you produce 100,000 eggs and die taking care of them there’s not much chance to develop culture.
- seesaw 6y ago
  I highly recommend the Netflix documentary ’My Octopus Teacher‘. This is the story of a photographer diving everyday for a year, and developing a two way bond with an octopus.

koheripbal 6y ago

Especially true since living longer often means helping to raise and teach children - passing on knowledge. Many land animals are intelligent and raise children so it's not clearly the only requirement for advanced development. ....they do certainly have the finger like dexterity for fine object control though.

mindfulplay 6y ago

I find this amusing as this is an inherently human emotional evaluation. Perhaps that is not the point in the grand scheme of things? Octopuses have survived for 500+ millions of years and I would say more intelligent and peaceful than humans who 'ruled' or savaged their own species for... what benefit actually?

Natsu 6y ago
I'm not sure about the 'peaceful' claim, that seems to me to be something of a romanticism. It's called the 'law of the jungle' for a reason, after all, e.g. - https://www.livescience.com/47982-octopus-cannibalism-video-captured.html https://www.livescience.com/47982-octopus-cannibalism-video-... But I think it's true that human intelligence has made us have a greater impact on the world, both for good and for evil.
r3trohack3r 6y ago
A viable chance at getting off this rock. 500+ million years is a blink of an eye on a cosmic scale. Humans are the only species we’ve observed that has a viable chance or surviving on cosmic time scales; and we will likely bring other life along with us for that ride. Short of another human-equivalent species evolving, or a hyper resilient organism that can piggy back on space debris, humans are literally the only shot life on Earth has.
- mindfulplay 6y ago
  Why does that matter? Why are humans so special? I 'feel' like octopuses are the better candidate :) putting aside trivial human aspirations....
  - r3trohack3r 6y ago
    When they successfully escape earths orbit, get back to me. Until then, all odds are stacked against them. They’re going to go extinct in an instant on a cosmic timescale. Unless, of course, humans choose to bring them along and save them from that fate.

wonderwonder 6y ago

If you like sci-fi, Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky plays with this concept. It's the second book in a series though, first being Children of Time. Super imaginative and well written, I really liked them.

agumonkey 6y ago

maybe self destroy their own species and so only the short lived one persist