Other Minds

The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness

By: Peter Godfrey-Smith

Narrated by: Peter Noble

Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith dons a wet suit and journeys into the depths of consciousness in Other Minds

Although mammals and birds are widely regarded as the smartest creatures on earth, it has lately become clear that a very distant branch of the tree of life has also sprouted higher intelligence: the cephalopods, consisting of the squid, the cuttlefish, and above all the octopus. In captivity, octopuses have been known to identify individual human keepers, raid neighboring tanks for food, turn off lightbulbs by spouting jets of water, plug drains, and make daring escapes. How is it that a creature with such gifts evolved through an evolutionary lineage so radically distant from our own? What does it mean that evolution built minds not once but at least twice? The octopus is the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien. What can we learn from the encounter?

In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, a distinguished philosopher of science and a skilled scuba diver, tells a bold new story of how subjective experience crept into being—how nature became aware of itself. As Godfrey-Smith stresses, it is a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared. Tracking the mind’s fitful development, Godfrey-Smith shows how unruly clumps of seaborne cells began living together and became capable of sensing, acting, and signaling. As these primitive organisms became more entangled with others, they grew more complicated. The first nervous systems evolved, probably in ancient relatives of jellyfish; later on, the cephalopods, which began as inconspicuous mollusks, abandoned their shells and rose above the ocean floor, searching for prey and acquiring the greater intelligence needed to do so. Taking an independent route, mammals and birds later began their own evolutionary journeys.

But what kind of intelligence do cephalopods possess? Drawing on the latest scientific research and his own scuba-diving adventures, Godfrey-Smith probes the many mysteries that surround the lineage. 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”? What happens when some octopuses abandon their hermit-like ways and congregate, as they do in a unique location off the coast of Australia?

By tracing the question of 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.

©2016 Peter Godfrey-Smith (P)2016 Harper Collins

Critic reviews

"A philosophy professor focuses on one of our most distant human ancestors, the octopus, in this provocative audiobook about the evolution of intelligence. Narrator Peter Noble is a wonderful fit for the material. Along with his measured fascination with these issues and his intelligent-sounding South African accent, he conveys the warmth necessary to keep listeners connected to the often esoteric material." —AudioFile

"If this is philosophy, it works, because Godfrey-Smith is a rare philosopher who searches the world for clues. Knowledgeable and curious, he examines, he admires. His explorations are good-natured. He is never dogmatic, yet startlingly incisive." —Carl Safina, The New York Times Book Review

"A philosopher of science and experienced deep-sea diver, Godfrey-Smith has rolled his obsessions into one book, weaving biology and philosophy into a dazzling pattern that looks a lot like the best of pop science. He peppers his latest book with vivid anecdotes from his cephalopod encounters . . . [and] relates dramatic stories of mischief made by captive octopuses . . . [but] his project is no less ambitious than to work out the evolutionary origins of subjective experience . . . The result is an incredibly insightful and enjoyable book." —Meehan Crist, The Los Angeles Times

it was great

it was amazing. voice was captivating. stories were well written and ordered in a way that anyone from psychologists (I'm one) to biologist, or someone just interested in conciousness or philosophy will get something out of this book. cant give it enough stars. Well done, really well done.

It's a good read and at times great.

Many parts were interesting and I liked how the author weaves in psychology. Some parts are unnecessarily complicated or seem less than crucial to the story. The narrator is really good.

The cephalopod story, movingly told

The cephalopod story, movingly told by Peter Godfrey-Smith. His subjects show amazing mental and physical capacity — but why still puzzles scientists, since they have such short lives. Very well narrated.

Interesting Read

An interesting introduction to consciousness theory. Also octopuses and cuddle fish seem dope too. Enjoyed it a lot

More supporting opinion about Octopus intelligence

Like the work Craig Foster has done in his Oscar awarded documentary My Octopus Teacher, Godfrey-Smith explores the behavior of octopus and cuttlefish. His book is yet more evidence that there are many different types of intelligent activity present in other species on Earth.

This is a very important perspective for us Humans to realize since we so often take a very arrogant, ethnocentric, even chauvinistic stance toward any type of intelligence we don’t possess or understand, whether in other humans or other “lower” species.

We have a lot to learn. This book can help, though there are a lot more stories he uses to make his points than we need to appreciate his position. Four stars.

very interesting and fresh viewpoints.

very interesting with fresh ideas about the conscious and thinking brains. good listen highly recommend.

Good book, but hard to follow as an audiobook

Interesting topic, but was hard to listen to as an audiobook, because of a lot of biology/science terms like species, earth eras etc. Probably would be better to read.

Mischief and Craft

"When you dive into the sea, you are diving into the origin of us all."
- Peter Godfrey-Smith, Other Minds

"Mischief and craft are plainly seen to be characteristics of this creature."
- Claudius Aelianus, 3rd Century A.D., writing about the octopus

It is always fascinating reading a biology book that seems to resemble a physics book, or an economics book that borrows heavily from psychology. Cross-pollination and flexibility to squeeze into other academic boxes always pleases me. So, when I discovered a book that looks at the philosophy of cognition by examining the brains and evolution of cephalopods (primarily octopuses and cuttlefish) I was excited. One reason is my love for octopuses (while almost accidental) goes back nearly ten years. For most of the time I've had an Audible account, my avatar has been an octopus. Friends buy me Cthulhu masks and plush dolls (I'm still not sure what one does long-term with a Cthulhu doll. How long can you appropriately cuddle with an Elder God doll before it becomes creepy?).

Anyway, Godfrey-Smith uses the development of the Cephalopod brain as a way to highlight our own brain's development and also as a way to highlight different ways cognition may appear in other life forms. The unique neural patterns/structure in Octopuses makes the way they see the world significantly different than the way we see the world (despite our separately evolved, but similar eyes). As Godfrey-Smith also points out -- an octopus is probably the closest we will come to examining another mind:

"If we want to understand other minds, the minds of cephalopods are the most other of all" (p10).

As YouTube shows, part of the appeal of Octopuses is how they, for an animal so different from us (it is closer to a slug than us biologically) seems to flirt with behaviors that are both close to us (playful, clever, petty) and also completely foreign. They seem to exits in a weird uncanny valley that attracts us. How can we not be fascinated by something that seems to have almost dropped her from another planet, but acts a bit like a cat. Octopuses, and their brains, reminds me of the famous Montaigne quote about his cat:

When I Am Playing With My Cat, How Do I Know She Is Not Playing With Me?

Indeed. When we are watching octopuses on YouTube, they seem to be equally fascinated with us. It is strange and lovely, and opens up a lot of questions about what it means to be alive, to think, to have a subjective experience. Peter Godfrey-Smith moves well along this path and asks most of the big questions I would want asked. Many answers, however, seem largely unanswerable. But like a philosopher is want, he still asks.

if Philosophy and biology had a baby

This book is a happy marriage between philosophy and biology. It is captivating and enjoyable. I also think this is an interesting book for anyone who considers to or already work in academia.

Nicely done

I really loved this book’s exploration consciousness and subjective experience. It was measured and compelling. The performance was well matched and enjoyable.