One octopus Mather was watching had just returned home and was cleaning the front of the den with its arms. Then, suddenly, it left the den, crawled a meter away, picked up one particular rock and placed the rock in front of the den. Two minutes later, the octopus ventured forth to select a second rock. Then it chose a third. Attaching suckers to all the rocks, the octopus carried the load home, slid through the den opening, and carefully arranged the three objects in front. Then it went to sleep. What the octopus was thinking seemed obvious: “Three rocks are enough. Good night!”
That's the way we perceive things. But the article mentions many times that we probably have no idea what is the consciousness level of the Octopus, since it has more neurons in its arms than in its central brain.
Comments
Excellent article, I liked this part:
It seems weird to say, "Well obviously this is what this alien intellect was thinking".
That's the way we perceive things. But the article mentions many times that we probably have no idea what is the consciousness level of the Octopus, since it has more neurons in its arms than in its central brain.
I suspect the author agrees. The tone there seemed a bit facetious to me, especially given the "Good night!" addendum.
"seems" is the operative word... here and in the quote you were talking about.