Octopus - A Much Needed Discussion

Much to my disgust, the Tasmanian Philosophy Curriculum makes no mention of Octopus. Not even once. This disappoints me. No discussion of metaphysics or the mind/body problem is complete without serious consideration being given to the Octopus. And I'm not talking about the Henry the Octopus, who is easily the most unlikable of all the Wiggles characters. I'm talking about Octopus Vulgaris, or if we want to broaden it out Cephalopods in general. Why so interesting? Cephalopods are nothing like us, we are vertebrates and they are not. Meaning we split off from their evolutionary path 1.2 billion years ago. Also they live in sea water, which if you are a human is nice on a hot day, but sucks if you have to stay there permanently. But they are intelligent, they have personalities, problem solving abilities and it seems that they sort of have 8 minds. Therefore if Octopus were ever to study philosophy they would have to look at the mind/mind/mind/mind/mind/mind/mind/mind/body problem.

Octopus makes classifying intelligence very hard. It makes properly understanding and defining consciousness even harder. From a biological perspective, it seems that intelligence can eventually arise through natural selection in very different ways- it's not something exclusive to mammals/primates. For more information on Octopus, watch the video or consult a rocky cavern in about 3 -8 metres of water.