The  theme of this journal is inspired by the alien-like characteristics of the octopus whose consciousness is definitely not like that of the human. The manifest image for the octopus  is anybody's guess. It seems that intelligence, like eyes, can emerge by convergent evolution Read more...

The  theme of this journal is inspired by the alien-like characteristics of the octopus whose consciousness is definitely not like that of the human. The manifest image for the octopus  is anybody's guess. It seems that intelligence, like eyes, can emerge by convergent evolution and one type of intelligence might be as different from another as eyes are different from each other in their functioning and capabilities.

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'Cephalopods include octopuses, squids, and cuttlefishes. They show cognitive and perceptual abilities rivaling those of our close vertebrate kin. Since this nervous system has a different evolutionary history than of the vertebrates, it is organized in a way completely different from our own. It can give us a glimpse of the similarities and differences we might expect between aliens and ourselves.

The animal’s eight arms are extraordinarily sensitive. Each containing hundreds of suckers, with thousands of sensory receptors on each one. By comparison, the human finger has only 241 sensory receptors per square centimeter. Many of these receptors sense chemicals, corresponding roughly to our senses of taste and smell. Much of this sensory information is processed locally in the arms. When an arm is severed from an octopus’s body, it continues to show simple behaviors on its own, and can even avoid threats. The octopus’s brain simply acts to coordinate the behaviors of its arms.

Cephalopods have acute vision. Although their eyes evolved separately from those of vertebrates, they nonetheless bear an eerie resemblance. They have a unique ability to change the pattern and color of their skin using pigment cells that are under direct control of their nervous systems. This provides them with the most sophisticated camouflage system of any animal on Earth, and is also used for social signaling.'


www.universetoday.com/129257/alien-minds-part-iii-octopuss-garden-country-blind/
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