Other Minds
The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness
by Peter Godfrey-Smith · first published 2016
76% recommend20% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Engaging look at octopus and cephalopod intelligence, treating them as the nearest thing to an alien mind and using their separate evolution to discuss consciousness. Suits curious readers of animal cognition.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"Peter Godfrey-Smith is a leading philosopher of science. He is also a scuba diver whose underwater videos of warring octopuses have attracted wide notice. In this book, he brings his parallel careers together to tell a bold new story of how nature became aware of itself. Mammals and birds are widely seen as the smartest creatures on earth. But one other branch of the tree of life has also sprouted surprising intelligence: the cephalopods, consisting of the squid, the cuttlefish, and above all the octopus. New research shows that these marvelous creatures display remarkable gifts. What does it
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If anyone is interested in cephalopod intelligence I heartily recommend the book: "Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life" by Peter Godfrey-Smith.
on “A Cephalopod Has Passed a Cognitive Test Designed for Human Children” ↗…Developing a less human-focused toolkit might be what we need; sometimes studying a more general problem is what you need to get past blockers in a more concrete problem. On that topic I really enjoyed _Other minds_ by Peter Godfrey-Smith, which talks about octopus behavior and some neurology, but I'm interested in recommendations for more technical readings in animal cognition / neurology.
on “How to Read a Jellyfish's Mind” ↗> some attributes which we think of as uniquely human, such as intelligence or consciousness, aren't actually so unique If you find this topic interesting I'd highly suggest reading the book Other Minds [1] and maybe Being a Beast [2]. Apparently there was a Y fork millions of years ago in the tree of life where vertebrates and invertebrates split. It's interesting that both branches developed advanced…
on “Why dolphins are deep thinkers (2003)” ↗Peter Godfrey-Smith also writes about this in Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness
on “The Cuttlefish, a Master of Camouflage, Reveals a New Trick” ↗Awesome, somewhat speculative and philosophical science book on this topic: Other Minds by Peter Godfrey Wiki - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other_Minds:_The_Octopus,_th... Review - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/15/other-minds-pe...
on “How the octopus got its smarts” ↗I recommend Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent by Peter Godfrey-Smith. A great read, reflecting on an Octopus "city" which was briefly established around some sea bottom clump. The stories about how…
on “How I became friends with an octopus” ↗I read the book "Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness" last year. Very interesting book about octopi. https://www.amazon.com/Other-Minds-Octopus-Origins-Conscious...
on “The deepest ever sighting of an octopus, by cameras on the Indian Ocean floor” ↗I highly recommend the book "Other Minds", a fascinating and very accessible book about the octupus and cuttlefish. They are amazing creatures. https://www.amazon.com/Other-Minds-Octopus-Origins-Conscious...
on “Giant Pacific Octopus” ↗Peter Godfrey Smith has a great summary of this in "Other Minds": > Why should an organism devote all its resources to one brood, or one breeding season? Much depends, again, on the risk of death by predation and other external causes—especially on how this risk…
on “Giant Pacific Octopus” ↗A nice book about octopuses: Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28116739
on “The mystery of social behavior in octopuses” ↗If you find this interesting “other minds” by Peter Godfrey Smith is an excellent book.
on “Cephaloponderings” ↗…different environment to us. But not alien in that they are a branch off the same tree of life as we are. If you are interested in finding out more about octopus evolution and intelligence I recommend: " Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life" by Peter Godfrey-Smith. "My octopus teacher" on Netflix is also well worth a watch.
on “Octopus with transparent head caught by blackwater photographer” ↗Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith has some interesting thoughts about this. The gist is that because they have such (relative) short lives, their lessened need to be defensive allows them to be more curious.
on “Octopuses Like to Punch Fish” ↗…first link "The Octopus: An Alien Among Us" is a good window into the world of animal intelligence research. I am going through a phase of listening to audiobooks on this topic. I can recommend both "Other Minds" by Peter Godfrey-Smith and "The Genius of Birds" by Jennifer Ackerman if you want good audiobooks that give a whirlwind tour through animal intelligence research into cephalopods and birds, respectively.
on “The best things and stuff of 2020” ↗I would recommend Peter Godfrey-Smith’s book called Other Minds to appreciate further how fascinating these animals are (the book talks about other cephalopods like octopus too).
on “Cuttlefish remember the what, when, and where of meals, even into old age” ↗