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Octopus: Genius of the deep
news.independent.co.uk — New research has shown that octopuses and their cousins, the squid and cuttlefish, are far more intelligent than previously thought. They can experience suffering and are capable of complex thought, even to the extent of using tools. The discovery has provoked a rethink by the EU, which may give them the same legal protections as monkeys.
Aidenag- 639 diggs
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- gwjc, on 10/12/2007, -6/+16Better start stockpiling frozen calamari
- Steelfox, on 10/12/2007, -3/+45"Author William Burroughs saw the octopus as a "highly emotional" creature, liable to change red with lust or pale green with fear."
Great, just what we need. Emo Octopus. Or should I say...Octopussies! - pyrotechnick, on 10/12/2007, -16/+3that joke would have been funnier if calimari was made from octopuses not squids
- bagboyrebel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6the article said that all cephalopods would be protected, and that includes squid.
- eplawless, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"octopuses and their cousins, the *squid* and cuttlefish"
- Gir53457, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Silence! Octopusssie.
- ardenr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Better start hoping the Giant Squid doesn't stockpile you... They've only been photographed alive once, and I'm guessing they're damned smart. 13 metres long, and they have the largest eyes of any living creature...
Oh yeah, and their dick is 3 FEET LONG!!
Be scared. They're making their move soon. - friedcalamari, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3What?
- Murphious, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7@ ardenr:
Sure, it may be three feet long but is it maneuverable like the elephants? They can use theirs like an arm.. - Suits, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5All I can think of is Japanese hentai tentacle porn. :s
- ardenr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@Murphious - no it's not... it's more like a monkey's tail, as in PREHENSILE.
3 feet > 90cm by the way.
*****' scared yet?!? - rolandog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Murphious
The word you're looking for is 'prehensile'.
http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Aprehensile - cwcheang, on 10/12/2007, -12/+1Not to be a jackass or anything... i only do this once in a while... but people should BURY those that abuse the comment system, regardless of whether or not the comment is funny/informative. The only exception that i can see are mirrors.
it seems to me that those people are attention seekers that dont do very well socially outside. they want those 'thumbs up' from diggers..*happy*happy* - lol
I hereby officially launch the 'Captain Mod' campaign. lol. ;-)
DIGG those f***ers to oblivion! - Wingman007, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5@cwcheang:
Ok, for my first act of listening to you, I'm going to have to bury you for being off-topic. - cwcheang, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1@ Wingman007
i was referring to some of the people right up there.. i suppose my comment placing is justified. i dont mind those that reply to those that abuse the system first because it's the only way..
but if you dont agree that's fine i can accept that but make sure you digg down other ppl up there too and in other posts where and when you feel appropriate. - CiXeL, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2fat chance. japan LIVES on squid. you can see the lights of their fishing fleet from space.
- Steelfox, on 10/12/2007, -3/+45"Author William Burroughs saw the octopus as a "highly emotional" creature, liable to change red with lust or pale green with fear."
- cody50, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17they didn't call him Doctor Octopus for nothing.
- merr, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8I just knew when I clicked on this story that someone else had already beaten me to this lame joke. =)
- cody50, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2yeah, lame I know. but just had to do it.
- Azur2, on 10/12/2007, -37/+8I for one welcome our octopi overlords.
- jazzman251, on 10/12/2007, -5/+35Go back to Slashdot...
- billymachine, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13Fight! Fight! Fight!
- rickcarson, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Please stay.
As the idiots migrate en masse to digg, Slashdot is almost becoming readable again.
- DCMacHead, on 10/12/2007, -9/+7EU legislators: "Looks like we've solved all the world's problems! Let's start addressing the REAL issues!"
- bitcloud, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23Well I've given up on trying to find intelligence above sea level...
- tuxidomasx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+24more legal protection for smarter animals.
wow.
so does that mean we can get rid of all the dumb people?- dacheetah, on 10/12/2007, -8/+10*cough* Bush? *cough*
- ZenMojo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18This is absolutely true. Some octopi can actually change their texture, shape and body coloring to mimic other animals (I watched the same octopus turn from a bouncing sea horse to a scuttling flatfish to a frilly shrimp as it moved along), rocks, and even fake objects like cans and trash dropped in their environment.
They are incredibly clever, too. I was watching Animal Planet and there was this really depressed Octopus, so they figured out that by creating a little box made out of legos and hiding food in it, they could cheer the octopus up out of its boredom by giving it an activity to keep it occupied.
Most importantly, they are empathic to an extent. It's a little eerie but incredible.- masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Agreed. Octopi are intelligent in ways that we do not fully understand as of yet. It's entirely possible that they're the most intelligent creature in the sea.
On a side note, the EU protects monkeys? Does that mean that I can't enjoy a nice, juicy monkey steak?
Which brings on more questions. Since monkeys are so similar to humans, would humans get the same cannibal diseases by eating monkeys that we'd get from eating other humans?
Hmm - sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12"Which brings on more questions. Since monkeys are so similar to humans, would humans get the same cannibal diseases by eating monkeys that we'd get from eating other humans?"
Where do you think aids came from? - Shorties, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@ Sockpuppets
I always thought that was all a cover up for One extremely lonely guy and his monkey... and his pet monkey. - proton, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"Since monkeys are so similar to humans, would humans get the same cannibal diseases by eating monkeys that we'd get from eating other humans?"
They are still a different species, so catching a "cannibal disease" from eating them probably won't happen (assuming you're talking about CJD). Well, it there hasn't been a documented occurrence yet anyway. - JackyTreehorn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@ZenMojo
"the only acceptable plural [of octopus] in English is octopuses"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus#Terminology
It says that "octopodes" is pedantic, but I think "octopodes" sounds ten times cooler than "octopuses" or "octopi". Go ahead. Say it aloud: "octopodes" - ray901, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"cannibal diseases"
What are you guys talking about? Cannibalism is refers to any species eating members of its own kind. By definition you cannot catch any sort of "cannibal diseases" by eating a different species.
my 2c - dgendreau, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@proton
Some of the worst diseases known to man have come about due to a relatively benign disease in one species mutating slightly and infecting another. Think Bird Flu.
See:
http://www.conservationmedicine.org/news/boston_globe_2003.htm - masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1By "cannibalism" disease, I mean the human version of Mad Cow than one can acquire by eating a certain protein in brain and spinal tissue. I just figured that "cannibalism disease" was easier to say and wouldn't have been confused with anything else.
- masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Agreed. Octopi are intelligent in ways that we do not fully understand as of yet. It's entirely possible that they're the most intelligent creature in the sea.
- crashnburn275, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11So now we have to treat octopi (plural?) humanely? What are we going to throw out on the ice at hockey games?!?
- bbnkstr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+29you
- Murphious, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@bbnkstr:
That's got to be the only reply on digg that I've ever laughed at for a while... - bdrydyk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Because you asked, octopi is wrong, or at least not proper. The correct pluralization in octopuses.
See here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus
under terminology. - Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2No, the correct pluralization is "octopodes". The Wikipedia article refers to that form being referred to as "pedantic" by one source, so I rest my case.
- tblanchard, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4But they are so tasty!
- sedo1800, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5Wow i guess it really is brain food
OR
Squid, the other white meat that is almost as smart as a monkey.
take your pick- Phyltre, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1He raises a good point. I take it we can't eat protected animals? And if so, what's going to take its place at the local Chinese superbuffet with sections for calamari AND octopus?
I'm just not sure if I can handle this. - lamborgini, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeh, lets hope we can continue sucking on the fried tentacles of a squid, then say... eat yummy tofu.
- Phyltre, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1He raises a good point. I take it we can't eat protected animals? And if so, what's going to take its place at the local Chinese superbuffet with sections for calamari AND octopus?
- robbiedo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I did alot of research into Octopi as a pet. Amazing little guys. The real drag is that they have very short lifespans. Shorter than a hamster. They rarely live longer than 2 years. I was stunned by that fact for such a highly intelligent animal, and decided I did not want to develop an emotional attachment to such a short lived animal.
- sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8I did as well, the little bastard got off his leash and I never saw him again. Plus, all those weird lost pet signs I had to put up, I had to move out of town just to score a date after that.
An octopus as a pet just plain sucks.
(Get it? Sucks? Ahhhh... time for me to go to bed...)
- sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8I did as well, the little bastard got off his leash and I never saw him again. Plus, all those weird lost pet signs I had to put up, I had to move out of town just to score a date after that.
- JonForTheWin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4What the hell, scene (mutant emo) kids are protected by law but cephalopods aren't. So I'm not allowed to crack scene kid skulls but my mom brings home a bag of this (Japanese?) jerkey-like stuff from cuttlefish. That's sad.
- rideroyals, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1lets make jerky out of scene kids and sell them to those nor cal tough guy jerks. save the octopi
- lamborgini, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0just because thier shallow doesn't mean you can crack thier skulls :/
also, "a bag of cuttlefish"... what the heck? is your mom a fisherman?
- perfectlycrazy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I for one would like to see a video of the octopus using tools. That sounds cool.
Then after that we can teach the sign language.- Gir53457, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2We could even write books about a group of explorers going in to the Ocean with an emotionally distraught Octopus. (/Congo Reference)
- SuckMyDigg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yeah, here I thought I was the only one who was expecting to see some demonstrable proof but only saw "blah blah blah some research blah blah". Lame article.
- pcx99, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8I don't think octopus' need any protection. Now sharks... that's another matter.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7004909622962894202- sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I say we give the Octopuses machine guns. Two birds with one stone.
Sockpuppets for congress! Vote November 7th!
- sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I say we give the Octopuses machine guns. Two birds with one stone.
- sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -1/+34A man walks into a bar with an octopus. He sits the octopus down on a stool and tells everyone in the bar that this is a very talented octopus, he can play any musical instrument in the world. He hears everyone in the crowd laughing at him, calling him an idiot, so he says that he'll wager $50 to anyone who has an instrument the octopus can't play.
A guy walks up to the bar with a guitar and sits it beside the octopus. The octopus picks up the guitar and starts playing better than Jimi Hendrix ever did. So the punter pays his $50, and retires, wounded.
Another guy walks up with a trumpet. The octopus plays the trumpet better than Dizzie Gillespie. So the punter pays his $50, and walks off, shaking his head in disbelief.
A Scotsman walks up to the bar with a set of bagpipes. He sits them down beside the octopus. The octopus fumbles with them for a while and sits them down with a confused look on his face.
"Ha!" the Scotsman says. "Ye cannae play it, can ye?"
The octopus looks the Scotsman in the eye and says, "Play it? I'm going to ***** it as soon as I can get its pajamas off"... - MrESaulved, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I had no idea that an Octopus was a thinking, feeling creature, no different really from you and me until I watched a video titled "The Octopus Show" from PBS's Nature, c2000.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/octopus/
One of the highlights is the mystery of the disappearing crabs. What follows is a minor spoiler, but also a great tease to watch this 60 minute flick: there is an aquatic lab, which has a couple of tanks, on tables, on opposite sides of this room. One tank has tasty crabs or other such octopus food and the other tank has hungry octopus. Too often, the workers would come to the lab in the morning to find the crab tank eerily filled with dead crab shell. So they decided to set up a video camera to surveill the lab at night. And boy, did they freak out when they saw what actually happened. The Octopus climbed out of the tank, onto the table and across to the other tank, hopped in and had a meal, and came back to it's tank when it was finished.
After seeing for myself what happened I will never underestimate the raw intellect of any of natures animals again, I'd be stupid too. Check it out for yourself.- Gir53457, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Wasn't that referneced in that Michael Chriton novel?
- Korvaras, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Holy *****. The shark got it's ass kicked.
- Murphious, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Is that on youtube anywhere?
- gill1109, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2wow i'm going to get me some of the show's Desktop pictures - makes a change from all that harmony enhancing stuff..
- StanleyKoolPrik, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Theyre so goddam smart, with their eight arms and legs, and their ability to fabricate 10x as many plastic products as the average Chinese 11 year old... within minutes theyre going to be onshore trying to take all our jobs away from us! Question is, is we going to let them? And I'll be yellow ledbetter before I let some wet-back mollusk come into my country and grab my hard earned family's square. Is you with me, humans? Or is you against me?
- badken, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3This article would have been far more convincing if it had cited the "recent research". As a story by a political editor, though, I guess I'm hoping for too much there.
- gojeda, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1"The discovery has provoked a rethink by the EU, which may give them the same legal protections as monkeys."
I, for one, will sleep well tonight knowing that the EU is at the vanguard of addressing this potentially world-changning issue. - gill1109, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2> They can experience suffering and are capable of complex thought
but still, WE are much more advanced - we can INFLICT suffering THROUGH our complex thought processes! (wars of religion and -isms like the so-called cold war). I don't think octopi inflict suffering for theological or philosophical reasons.- sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Clearly you forgot about the undersea unexplained mass sponge migration.
- gill1109, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2true - we are just so dumb that we don't realize it is actually the squids responsible for global warming so as to extend their territory to the US. probably they are behind Al Qaeda too. Nuke the ocean! Perhaps this line can give the republicans a chance after all...
- nepawoods, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"But in British laboratories, cephalopods are regarded as a species so unsophisticated ..."
Uhm ... the cephalopods are not a species, they're a class. - crashflow, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1seeing as octopuses have no myspace profiles, they are very smart but not too emo.
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Treat them well, when the Deep Ones come they will kill you last.
- diggdong, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Octopus twists for shrimps
Roger Moore opens jar in Brighton
Jar trick: Octopuses are capable of feats of dexterity
An octopus in a German zoo has learned to open jars of shrimps by copying staff - and is now showing off her skills to visitors.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2796607.stm - matt1988, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2So because octopus and squid have a larger brain they get more rights? Does that mean I should have more rights than my retarded neighbor?
- insanitarium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If you will contribute more to society, then yes. Of course, depending upon the extent of your neighbor's retardation they should possibly have been put down at birth.
- UtopianComplex, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I feel uncomfortable choosing which animals to protect based on perceived intelligence. I know we can't protect all animals, but I just don't know if this qualification is just.
- Digg4all, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Octopodes creap me out. The whole detached penis/appendage thing that swims up in there after the male dies just doesn't seem right.
- CharlesMay, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Wait... all these comments and not one "I for one welcome our ______ overlords"?
Someone's slipping.- ZenMojo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There is one. It just got dug down to -25.
- Edmundo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ok. Cephalopods exhibit a certain level of intelligence. They are capable of problem solving. Still, they can't build hospitals. While you can admire them, I don't think we should them give equal standing with human beings. This whole push to give cephalopods rights seems like anothey way to give E.U. bureaucrats the ability to fine restaurants and in general kill jobs.
- ray901, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Cephalopods don't need hospitals, or motorways or paper money.
But I do agree: jobs for humans are far more important than anything else on this planet that does not have an equal standing with humans. (Which we wont bestow on them unless they can get off their arses and build some hospitals)
- ray901, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Cephalopods don't need hospitals, or motorways or paper money.
- ostracize, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1We always knew squids were intelligent. Haven't you ever played Red Alert 2?
- WeeklyGeek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is why I don't eat octopus. It's just cruel. It would be like eating your dog or cat, if your dog or cat had 8 awesome tentacles.
- nepawoods, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"This is why I don't eat octopus. It's just cruel."
Cruel, but tasty, and it has a nice texture if you cook it right.
- nepawoods, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"This is why I don't eat octopus. It's just cruel."
- mweflen, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0"This evidence has so convinced officials..."
This article is all very interesting, but how about at least listing some of this "evidence" in a brief summary form? The article is basically ***** useless without it. So a bunch of guys are thinking of reclassifying squids for reasons we know not what. So? "The Independent" blows.
I'm reserving judgment until I read about it in a better journal. *****, even "Wired" and "Popular Science" at least go into more detail with regards to evidence. - nepawoods, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Video of octopus walking on two legs - quite amazing: http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/9999/walking.mpeg
- Hurricane, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1All I can say is DUH, I remember watching a program about cuttlefish sign language over 10 years ago, that should have clued people in then.
Us humans tend to overlook things waaaaaaaaaaay too much. - wordmunger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Can't read the article--subscription only. Anyone have an alternate link?
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