Something smart enough to recgonize the people, what they mean, learn their schedule, and understand how to decieve them, is something that should not be kept in captivity for our amusement.
deleted by creator
Every animal can react to their environment, including avoiding predators. Not all of them do it perfectly, but it is a basic survival skill for mobile life forms.
In the wild an octopus often hides in a tight space to protect itself and wanders out to feed, then returns to their safe location afterwards. They avoid predators while doing so. Lots of animals will be less active when predators are out and about, or will be active during times where it is more difficult for the predators to hunt.
Yes, an octopus is a very clever animal but really we should stop killing them because we are absolutely crushing their populations.
The stories I here about Octopi make them sound more like an intelligent creature we don’t understand rather than “lots of creatures escape their cages to go hunting and then return before anyone notices. This is natural behavior for an animal.”
Yes, the mind of an octopus is unknowable, and it could be just acting on instinct. It could also have some measure of sentience, and there is no way to really know. As such maybe we should err on the side of caution and not keep them in little pens for us to gawk at.
It could also hide from predators in an aquarium where it will be brought food every day and get medicine from a veterinarian if it gets sick. An Aquarium is the safest place for the octopus to live, so why wouldn’t it’s survival instinct tell it to live there to hide from predators?
We should set up an experiment with an aquarium that allows the octopus access to the ocean. Do you really think the Octopus would run away from the aquarium where it’s safe from predators and gets fed every day?
But “dumb” animals are fine? We even torture them because we think they taste cool.
Where did I say that?
The octopus went back to it’s tank after getting a snack. That’s at least some indication the octopus likes living there.
You are assuming the octopus prefers living out in the wild where it could be eaten alive. Who are you to assume what an animal wants?
Are you currently living in some kind rectangular structure where you have easy access to regular meals? Why are you living in this way and assuming an octopus wouldn’t also prefer this? There’s nothing preventing you from leaving the rectangular structure you’re currently living in and going out into the wilds and fending for yourself to survive. Why don’t you do the thing you’re assuming the octopus wants to do?
Who are you to assume what an animal wants?
I am quite literally not doing that. I am saying “we don’t know so we shouldn’t imprison it for our amusement” which does not strike me as a very extreme statement.
If i was a multi Billionaire i would dedicate my vast wealth to building an Institute that breeds only the most intelligent octopi with each other.
They don’t live so long, so generations go by fast. I bet we could speedrun evolution if we just put our money where our tentacles are.
we could speedrun evolution if we just put our money where our tentacles are
Found the cephalopod.
Higher intelligence is a cost in evolution, so it doesn’t keep unless neccessary for survival.
So we just make it really dangerous to be dumb.
This would be directed evolution, not natural selection, so we decide what to keep.
Last time I went to the aquarium there was a specialist on reef ecology talking about all the different species of animals on display and a woman in the group behind me loudly exclaimed “Wait, fish are animals?” so I’m going out on a limb and stating that I believe there’s a considerable amount of overlap between the smartest of their species and the dumbest of ours when it comes to intelligence.
Removed by mod
octopi = 25.1327412287183
Approximately.
Makes me think of Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky. 😀
We’re going on an adventure
I love that series so damn much
I’ll never hear, or read, that phase the same again!
An octopus can squeeze through a hole about the size of its eyeball and transform its body shape almost without limits.
crazy!
In the size of his eyeball isn’t correct at all, the limit is the size of his beak, the only solid part of an Octopus, but I think that he don’t like to squetch his eyeball if it isn’t needed.
deleted by creator
@LadyButterfly Alt text available on link.
This is such a wonderfully funny story. Yes, octopuses are scary clever.Octopus for President!! (more brains)
They literally couldn’t be worse than what we’ve got
You don’t know for certain. You might end up electing the one octopus who’s even more fascist than what we have now.
Did no one notice the giant puddle of water between the tanks?
Makes me sad tbh.
I, for one, welcome our eight appendage overlords
They’re smart as individuals, but they don’t have generational knowledge so we’re safe. If they figure out how to reproduce without dying right away, we’re in trouble.
This is true. Many aquariums with octopuses have to do something similar.
