When I start posted on cephalopod news a twelvemonth or thus ago, I assumed it would live a one-off diversion into the deep bluish sea ( li...
When I start posted on cephalopod news a twelvemonth or thus ago, I assumed it would live a one-off diversion into the deep bluish sea (link). But straight off I've read the fascinating recent volume yesteryear Peter Godfrey-Smith, Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, too the Deep Origins of Consciousness, too it is interesting plenty to justify a instant deep dive. Godfrey-Smith is a philosopher, but he is also a scuba diver, too his involvement inwards cephalopods derives from his experiences nether water. This original stimulus has led to 2 really dissimilar lines of inquiry. What is the nature of the mental capacities of an octopus? And how did "intelligence" tumble out to evolve twice on public through such dissimilar pathways? Why is a complex nervous arrangement an evolutionary wages for a descendent of a clam?
Both questions are of philosophical interest. The nature of consciousness, intelligence, too reasoning has been of bang-up draw organization to philosophers inwards the report of the philosophy of mind. The questions that arise select forth a mixture of hard conceptual, empirical, too theoretical issues: how does consciousness relate to behavioral capacity? Are news too consciousness interchangeable? What testify would permit us to conclude that a given species of fauna has consciousness too reasoning ability?
The evolutionary inquiry is also of involvement to philosophers. The bailiwick of the philosophy of biological scientific discipline focuses much of its attending on the issues raised yesteryear evolutionary theory. Elliott Sober's piece of work illustrates this cast of philosophical thinking -- for example, The Nature of Selection: Evolutionary Theory inwards Philosophical Focus, Evidence too Evolution: The Logic Behind the Science. Godfrey-Smith tells an expert's even of the long development of mollusks, inwards too out of their shells, amongst emerging functions too organs good suited to the opportunities available inwards their oceanic environments. One of the evolutionary puzzles to live considered is the curt lifespan of octopuses too squid -- exactly a few years (160). Why would the organism invest thus heavily inwards a cognitive arrangement that supported its life for such a curt time?
H5N1 major component subdivision of the explanation that G-S favors involves the fact that octopuses are hunters, too a complex nervous arrangement is to a greater extent than of an wages for predator than prey. (Wolves are to a greater extent than intelligent than elk, after all!) Having a nervous arrangement that supports anticipation, planning, too work solving turns out to live an first-class grooming for beingness a predator. Here is a goodness instance of how that cognitive wages plays out for the octopus:
David Scheel, who industrial plant generally amongst the giant Pacific octopus, feeds his animals whole clams, but every bit his local animals inwards Prince William Sound create non routinely consume clams, he has to learn them close the novel nutrient source. So he partly smashes a clam too gives it to the octopus. Later, when he gives the octopus an intact clam, the octopus knows that it’s food, but does non know how to acquire at the meat. The octopus volition effort all sorts of methods, drilling the compaction too chipping the edges amongst its beak, manipulating it inwards every agency possible … too thus eventually it learns that its sheer strength is sufficient: if it tries hard enough, it tin forcefulness out exactly clitoris the compaction apart. (70)Exploration, curiosity, experimentation, too play are crucial components of the form of flexibility that organisms amongst large nervous systems select to earning their living.
G-S brings upwards a truly novel seem of the organismic value of a complex nervous system: non exactly problem-solving applied to the external environment, but coordination of the trunk itself. Intelligence evolves to grip the work of coordinating the motions of the parts of the body.
The cephalopod body, too peculiarly the octopus body, is a unique object amongst honor to these demands. When component subdivision of the molluscan “foot” differentiated into a bulk of tentacles, amongst no joints or shell, the trial was a really unwieldy organ to control. The trial was also an enormously useful thing, if it could live controlled. The octopus’s loss of almost all hard parts compounded both the challenge too the opportunities. H5N1 vast arrive at of movements became possible, but they had to live organized, had to live made coherent. Octopuses ask maintain non dealt amongst this challenge yesteryear imposing centralized governance on the body; rather, they ask maintain fashioned a mixture of local too fundamental control. One powerfulness tell the octopus has turned each arm into an intermediate-scale actor. But it also imposes order, top-down, on the huge too complex arrangement that is the octopus body. (71)
In this picture, neurons start multiply because of the demands of the body, too thus erstwhile later, an octopus wakes upwards amongst a encephalon that tin forcefulness out create more. (72)
This is a truly novel too intriguing thought close the creation of a novel organism over geological time. It is every bit if a plastic self-replicating too self-modifying artifact bootstrapped itself from primitive capabilities into a directed too cunning predator. Or mayhap it is a preview of the transition that artificial news systems embodying adaptable learning processes too expanding linkages to the command systems of the physical public may accept inwards the side yesteryear side 50 years.
The history of large brains has, really roughly, the shape of a missive of the alphabet Y. At the branching oculus of the Y is the final mutual ancestor of vertebrates too mollusks. From here, many paths run forward, but I unmarried out 2 of them, i leading to us too i to cephalopods. What features were introduce at that early on stage, available to live carried frontwards downwardly both paths? The ancestor at the oculus of the Y for sure had neurons. It was in all probability a worm-like creature amongst a unproblematic nervous system, though. It may ask maintain had unproblematic eyes. Its neurons may ask maintain been partly bunched together at its front, but in that place wouldn’t ask maintain been much of a encephalon there. From that phase the development of nervous systems proceeds independently inwards many lines, including 2 that led to large brains of dissimilar design. (65)The master copy departure that G-S highlights hither is the nature of the neural architecture that each draw eventually favors: a fundamental cord connecting periphery to a fundamental brain; too a decentralized network of neurons distributed over the whole body.
Further, much of a cephalopod’s nervous arrangement is non constitute inside the encephalon at all, but spread throughout the body. In an octopus, the bulk of neurons are inwards the arms themselves— nearly twice every bit many every bit inwards the fundamental brain. The arms ask maintain their ain sensors too controllers. They ask maintain non alone the sense of touch, but also the capacity to sense chemicals— to smell, or taste. Each sucker on an octopus’s arm may ask maintain 10,000 neurons to grip gustation too touch. Even an arm that has been surgically removed tin forcefulness out perform diverse basic motions, similar reaching too grasping. (67)So what close the "alien intelligence" component subdivision of G-S's story? G-S emphasizes the fact that octopus mentality is close every bit alien to human sense too development every bit it could be.
Cephalopods are an isle of mental complexity inwards the sea of invertebrate animals. Because our most recent mutual ancestor was thus unproblematic too lies thus far back, cephalopods are an independent experiment inwards the development of large brains too complex behavior. If nosotros tin forcefulness out brand contact amongst cephalopods every bit sentient beings, it is non because of a shared history, non because of kinship, but because development built minds twice over. This is in all probability the closest nosotros volition come upwards to coming together an intelligent alien. (9)
This likewise is intriguing. G-S is right: the evolutionary even he industrial plant through hither gives bang-up encouragement for the thought that an organism inwards a complex surround too a few bits of neuronal textile tin forcefulness out evolve inwards wildly dissimilar pathways, leading to cognitive capabilities too features of awareness that are dramatically dissimilar from human intelligence. Life is plastic too evolutionary fourth dimension is long. The ideas of the unity of consciousness too the unified self don't ask maintain whatever item primacy or uniqueness. For example:
The octopus may live inwards a sort of hybrid situation. For an octopus, its arms are partly self—they tin forcefulness out live directed too used to manipulate things. But from the fundamental brain’s perspective, they are partly non-self too, partly agents of their own. (103)
So in that place is zip inherently unique close human intelligence, too no goodness argue to assume that all intelligent creatures would observe a footing for mutual agreement too communication. Sorry, Captain Kirk, the universe is stranger than you lot e'er imagined!
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