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Comment by fsloth | Hacker News Reader

Another qurious work describing non-vertebrate cognition was the recent document "My octopus teacher". As a person without deep experience of them and while octopus are known to be smart that document kind of rubs in your face what it means to have such level of talent when they live in their natural habitat instead of an aquarium pool performing party tricks.

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And imagine if they could live for 80+ years instead of only 3 - 5. Their unusually high intelligence may be related to things like continuous RNA editing. If all of their adaptation mechanisms could evolve to occur over a much longer timespan, who knows what they might become capable of.

Human intelligence develops over a long period; imagine if it all had to be squeezed into 3 - 5 years.

If you enjoyed "My octopus teacher" you might also find this book interesting:

"OTHER MINDS: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life" Godfrey-Smith

The last common ancestor between humans and octopus was a flatworm. So their intelligence has evolved comletely separately from ours in a totally different environment. So they are truly an alien intelligence, here on earth.

Does anyone know what the theory is about octupuses being solitary? It seems like a strange place to end up for highly intelligent creatures. (Although, now that I think about it being smart and specializing in/in charge of your own private hunting ground doesn't really sound like such a bad way to live.)

Sociality is not the only (and probably not an initial) driver of the evolution of intelligence in animals. Ecological and particularly foraging competency in less predictable environments is another and likely more primary stimulator for intelligence.

Coordinating complex movements is another one that appears to drive intelligence.

Vulnerability in a hostile environment. Together with foraging and coordinating complex movement plans, it is hypothesized that predation pressure when combined with the loss of their shell drove cephalopod intelligence. Trading defense for agility and int would also have provided a competitive advantage when competing for prey.

The book I reference above says that octopus intelligence is a bit of a paradox due to their short life span and lack of sociability. Pretty much all other intelligent animals are long lived and social.

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