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Other Minds: The Octopus, The Sea, And The Deep...
Leading philosopher of science Peter Godfrey-Smith dons a wet suit and journeys into the depths of consciousness in his latest book Other Minds. Combining science and philosophy with first-hand accounts of the remarkable intelligence of the octopus, Godfrey-Smith explores how primitive organisms bobbing in the ocean began sending signals to each other and how these early forms of communication gave rise to the advanced nervous systems that permit cephalopods to change colors and human beings to speak. Follow along as Godfrey-Smith shares from his underwater adventures and sheds new light on the octopus brain, the human brain, and the evolution of consciousness.
Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep...
Godfrey-Smith points to a contrast not only with humans, but other intelligent animals more closely related to humans. The octopus, with its unusually flexible body and color-changing ability, has the potential to develop an incredibly elaborate sign language. But no sign of such a language exists. Baboons, on the other hand, communicate using a much more limited palette of only three or four types of grunts and screams. But due to their social character, they can make these calls in ways that allow for a wide variety of different interpretations, based on different circumstances. Humans have the best of both worlds. 041b061a72