Bibliograph

Other minds, the octopus, the sea, and the deep origins of consciousness, Peter Godfrey-Smith

Type

Label

Other minds, the octopus, the sea, and the deep origins of consciousness, Peter Godfrey-Smith

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-237) and index

Illustrations

illustrationsplates

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Other minds

Nature of contents

bibliography

Responsibility statement

Peter Godfrey-Smith

Sub title

the octopus, the sea, and the deep origins of consciousness

Summary

"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. The squid, the cuttlefish, and above all the octopus are 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 story of how subjective experience crept into being--how nature became aware of itself. Godfrey-Smith tracks the mind's fitful development from unruly clumps of seaborne cells to the first nervous systems and on to the cephalopds and their independent acquisition of intellectual gifts. Drawing on the latest scientific research and his own scuba-diving adventures, Godfrey-Smith probes the many mysteries that surround the cephalopods' lineage. 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"--Back cover

Table Of Contents

Meetings across the tree of life : Two meetings and a departure ; Outlines -- A history of animals : Beginnings ; Living together ; Neurons and nervous systems ; The garden ; Senses ; The fork -- Mischief and craft : In a sponge garden ; Evolution of the cephalopods ; Puzzles of octopus intelligence ; Visiting Octopolis ; Nervous evolution ; Body and control ; Convergence and divergence -- From white noise to consciousness : What it's like ; Evolution of experience ; Latecomer versus transformation ; The case of the octopus -- Making colors : The giant cuttlefish ; Making colors ; Seeing colors ; Being seen ; Baboon and squid ; Symphony -- Our minds and others : From Hume to Vygotsky ; Word made flesh ; Conscious experience ; Full circle -- Experience compressed : Decline ; Life and death ; A swarm of motorcycles ; Long and short lives ; Ghosts -- Octopolis : An armful of octopuses ; Origins of Octopolis ; Parallel lines ; The oceans

Classification