The Octopus Thread

I've long thought that human intelligence is connected to our manual dexterity, with our two opposable thumbed hands.

But if that's true, then octopi and squid, with their multiple prehensile arms, should be even more intelligent.

It's probably only the fact that they have to live in the sea that prevents them from being Top Species on Earth.
 
rynner2 said:
I've long thought that human intelligence is connected to our manual dexterity, with our two opposable thumbed hands.

But if that's true, then octopi and squid, with their multiple prehensile arms, should be even more intelligent.

It's probably only the fact that they have to live in the sea that prevents them from being Top Species on Earth.
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I agree. They are extremely intelligent. To look into their eye is a surreal realisation.
 
Cthulthu is playing a waiting game LOL
 
Nice story. They're fascinating creatures. On doing a quick google, they're thought to have a small central brain connecting to further parts of brain in each tentacle in a sort of all-body network. The central brain can send a signal to perform an action which the tentacle brain then takes over. Three fifths of the overall brain is thought to be in it's tentacles.

Some of their camouflage/shape changing/blending in to background is simply amazing. To evade a predator, some even change their appearance to a predator of the predator. Clever stuff.
 
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rynner2 said:
It's probably only the fact that they have to live in the sea that prevents them from being Top Species on Earth.
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They've been known to enjoy a nice cup of tea.
 

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rynner2 said:
I've long thought that human intelligence is connected to our manual dexterity, with our two opposable thumbed hands.

But if that's true, then octopi and squid, with their multiple prehensile arms, should be even more intelligent.

It's probably only the fact that they have to live in the sea that prevents them from being Top Species on Earth.
Click to expand...
I've certainly thought that linguistic dexterity is related to handedness. It's noticeable that language learners can, after a certain amount of learning, use the target language to do everything they need, but don't use the language in a 'sophisticated' way, i.e. it sounds clunky to a native speaker. It's like doing familiar tasks with your non-dominant hand.
 
gellatly68 said:
I've certainly thought that linguistic dexterity is related to handedness. It's noticeable that language learners can, after a certain amount of learning, use the target language to do everything they need, but don't use the language in a 'sophisticated' way, i.e. it sounds clunky to a native speaker. It's like doing familiar tasks with your non-dominant hand.
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That's a very interesting analogy, thank you. Food for thought.
 
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Are we allowed to discuss the options for octopus plurality.

Octopi is wrong. The -us ending incorrectly suggests the root is Latin, but it isn't.

Octopuses is fine English, if inelegant.

Octopodes is grammatically correct if you keep it as Greek [ok-TOP-uh-dees].
 
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Yithian said:
Are we allowed to discuss the options for octopus plurality.

Octopi is wrong. The -us ending incorrectly suggests the route is Latin, but it isn't.

Octopuses is fine English, if inelegant.

Octopodes is grammatically correct if you keep it as Greek [ok-TOP-uh-dees].
Click to expand...

Is there an English teacher in the house?
 
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Yithian said:
Are we allowed to discuss the options for octopus plurality.

Octopi is wrong. The -us ending incorrectly suggests the route is Latin, but it isn't.

Octopuses is fine English, if inelegant.

Octopodes is grammatically correct if you keep it as Greek [ok-TOP-uh-dees].
Click to expand...

ok-TOP-uh-dees they are then! :)
 
As I understand it one of the main things that have stopped Octopussies from becoming as 'smart' as us is that they dont care for or teach their Octopuppies :) so each little guy has to relearn the world from scratch!
 
They also seem to have rather bad memories. You can teach an octopus some amazing tricks, but they will have forgotten it the next day.
 
Xanatic* said:
They also seem to have rather bad memories. You can teach an octopus some amazing tricks, but they will have forgotten it the next day.
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I have the same problem. Then again, if I learn something which is pointless to my own survival or intellectual nourishment, why bother?
 
Octopi slither on land https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/octopus-stampede-wales#

Dozens of Octopuses Marched on Land And No One Knows Why
Published on 10/31/2017 at 1:06 PM

Earlier this week, residents of the small coastal village Ceredigion in western Wales were confronted with a group of 25 cephalopods, all of which ambled ashore from the ocean and decided to go for an impromptu scuttle on New Quay beach. The octopus march occurred three nights in a row, prompting chin scratches and apocalyptic musings from local man Brett Stones, who runs a dolphin watching business in the area.

He told the BBC: “It was a bit like an End Of Days scenario. There were probably about 20 or 25 on the beach. I have never seen them out of the water like that.”

The general curiosity of land-roving cephalopods stretched far and wide in the ensuing days, but experts later weighed in, adding scientific heft to the intrigue. Jenny Hofmeister, a postdoctoral scholar at San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, told National Geographic that the cephalopods could have been forced out of the ocean because of a swelling octopus population.

She also said that recent storms, such as Hurricane Ophelia, may have influenced their march on land, but evidence supporting that stance is anecdotal at best: "There's some anecdotal evidence of animals being susceptible to big storms, but it really hasn't been tested. It's not out of the realm of possibility," she said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jennifer Miller of University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, told Mashable that the octopuses looked “disoriented and washed around," surmising that their breeding rituals were disrupted by recent storms. ...
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