Book, Other minds: the octopus and the origin of consciousness[LS]

Combining natural history and philosophy, Peter Godfrey-Smith tells a new story of consciousness and brings to the center of the debate one of the most fascinating members of the animal kingdom: the octopus. Although mammals and birds are considered the most intelligent creatures on Earth, it has become increasingly clear that a very distant branch of the tree of life has also generated superior intelligence: the cephalopods, a group of which octopuses are a part. We know that in captivity they identify people, attack neighboring tanks to steal food, block drains and make daring escapes. In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, philosopher of science and diver, shows how primitive organisms in the ocean became complex and acquired the intelligence necessary to survive. How did the octopus, a solitary creature with little social life, become so intelligent? By comparing humans to our remarkable animal relatives, the author sheds crucial new light on the minds of octopuses – and, by extension, our own consciousness.