The Civilization of Octopi

https://www.nature.com/news/worm-like-movements-propel-octopus-ballet-1.14180

This is my sixth post on my blog about Abnormalities in the Natural World. Throughout this series, I have been and will be discussing different abnormalities that exist in the natural world and how discovering them has affected me and my perception of reality.

So another week has passed by and over the course of this week, I came across something interesting in the aquatic world. As I looked more and more into it, the more I felt like I needed to write my next blog post about it. Although I am not very familiar with ocean or marine life, I found this topic to be not only very interesting but very inspiring. This week’s post is about the octopus.

Despite the fact that we have known about octopi for centuries, we have not really discovered much about them. However, there has been some recent discoveries regarding the existence and lifestyle of their species. Scientists have discovered a new society of octopi they named Octlantis (Hoare). If you happen to be interested in the diver’s take, read this: Other Minds.

Digging deeper into what this society entails, they found that octopi make great architects, constructing walls of clam and scallop shells (leftovers from their meals). The octopi were also found to have been using the same piles of leftovers to construct their dens. Scientists ended up concluding that octopi are very profound environmental engineers (Hoare).

However, what is shocking is not that another species is intelligent enough to form a civilization. What is really surprising to the scientific world is that octopi were characterized as creatures who live alone. They were considered some of the only intelligent animals to be a truly loner species (Courage). Despite centuries of observing and misunderstanding the sociality of this species, there is now evidence to suggest that octopi are actually very social creatures. In fact, when scientists gave MDMA (or molly) to octopi, they exhibited very cuddly, social and friendly tendencies.

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/scientists-give-molly-octopuses-yeah-it-works-ncna911626

Another interesting thing to consider is the extent to which this species is intelligent. Octopi are considered one of the most intelligent species with the capabilities and complexity of a three year old human child (Hoare). That being said, the makeup of their biology possess several advantages many other intelligent life do not. Octopi can use their arms to build things and solve problems, they are capable of using and manipulating tools, and they are able to change color very quickly (Courage).

Because of this, many wonder if octopi will progress fast enough to catch up to or threaten the human race. What’s important to note is that we are unable to track octopi and as a result of this, they are really hard to study or understand (Worrall). Their progression and capabilities are something that we still do not know much about. From my perspective, this proves to me that there is a lot more to life than we know about and it fascinates me that something like this could go undiscovered for centuries. I am inspired to engage in more research about aquatic life and the mysteries it may hold.

To see Worrall, a researcher for National Geographic, answer some questions regarding her quest to understand octopi, check this out: Journey of Octopus Discovery.

Resources:

Courage, Katharine. “Social Octopus Species Shatters Beliefs About Ocean Dwellers.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 30 July 2014, news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140728-social-octopuses-animals-oceans-science-mating/.

Hoare, Philip. “Octlantis: the Underwater City Built by Octopuses.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 18 Sept. 2017, www.theguardian.com/environment/shortcuts/2017/sep/18/octlantis-the-underwater-city-built-by-octopuses.

Worrall, Simon. “Journey of Octopus Discovery Reveals Them to Be Playful, Curious, Smart.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 25 June 2014, news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/140625-octopus-evolution-brain-eyes-memory-cannibalism-robotics/.