Humans want to believe that they’re the smartest creatures on the planet. But the more we understand octopuses, the more it seems that we may not be alone in our ability to solve problems, make complex connections between ideas, and survive by wits alone. A growing body of evidence — a lot of it still anecdotal — suggests that octopuses show elements of human-like intelligence.
Their intelligence has evolved for very different reasons than ours did, which makes them particularly difficult to understand.
Over at Orion magazine, Sy Montgomery has an incredible, in-depth article about what it’s like to know octopuses (io9 linked to it) — and perhaps, what it’s like to be one. He interviews scientists who work with these invertebrates, and eventually befriends an octopus named Athena.
To read the rest of io9’s article, click here.
Annalee Newitz is an American journalist who covers the cultural impact of science and technology. She is the editor-in-chief of io9, which named in 2010 as one of the top 30 science blogs by The Times. Her work has been published in Popular Science, Wired, Salon.com, New Scientist, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, and AlterNet, and she is a regular lecturer at colleges and conferences.