
Tentacles that think - tomaskazemekas
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21660955-studying-cephalopods-may-illuminate-evolution-brains-all-sorts-tentacles
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DarkTree
>Each octopus tentacle, however, acts autonomously as it feels around for food
or threats. The brain can take over if necessary, but their decentralised
nervous systems make octopuses less dependent than vertebrates on transmitting
long-range signals through their bodies.

The only way I could imagine this is by holding hands of two toddlers. They
are attached to you, acting autonomously, but you could (pretty much) order
them around.

It's like trying to imagine what it's like to be blind, you can't.

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StavrosK
It's probably more like breathing.

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ZeroFries
Right. They can probably let their tentacles drift in and out of their
awareness similar to how we let awareness of our breath drift in and out. The
buddhist octopus is aware of its tentacles but not controlling of them.

~~~
makeset
> The buddhist octopus

Brilliant band name.

~~~
Terr_
The true reason for the eight-fold path.

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coldcode
I for one can no longer eat an octopus. Perhaps a 100 million years from now
our ancestors will be food on the future planet of the Octopi.

~~~
kjs3
On the other hand, octopus live only long enough to mature and breed (2-3
years for most of them). Octopus aren't thinking deep thoughts with that
fascinating nervous system. There will be no Octopi poems or symphonies.
They're pretty much just trying to get laid before they die.

~~~
coldcode
Our ancestors didn't either. Look at us now.

~~~
zardo
With such short lifespans, we can breed them for cooperation and kickstart an
undersea agricultural revolution.

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daveloyall
Hardly related: I've heard the phrase 'Scientists discover octopus brains are
alien' said out loud several times in the past few days.

Apparently some clickbait site has picked up this article (or the paper),
mangled it, and spewed it onto the feeds of more than one of my non-technical
friends.

So, 'Strange' \--> 'Alien' \--> 'Extraterrestrial'. The word 'alien' does
appear in the text of the Economist article.

