OTHER MINDS: OCTOPUS AND THE EVOLUTION OF INTELLIGENT LIFE

The octopus is the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien. How did the octopus, a solitary creature with little social life, become so smart? What is it like to have eight tentacles that are so packed with neurons that they virtually ‘think for themselves’? By tracing the question of nature’s inner life back to its roots and comparing human beings with our most remarkable animal relatives, Godfrey-Smith casts crucial new light on the octopus mind - and on our own.