Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness

Description: Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith dons a wet suit and journeys into the depths of consciousness in Other Minds 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, consisting of the squid, the cuttlefish, and above all the octopus. In captivity, octopuses have been known to identify individual human keepers, raid neighboring tanks for food, turn off lightbulbs by spouting jets of water, plug drains, and make daring escapes. How is it that a creature with such gifts evolved through an evolutionary lineage so radically distant from our own? What does it mean that evolution built minds not once but at least twice? The octopus is 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 new story of how subjective experience crept into being―how nature became aware of itself. As Godfrey-Smith stresses, it is a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared. Tracking the mind’s fitful development, Godfrey-Smith shows how unruly clumps of seaborne cells began living together and became capable of sensing, acting, and signaling. As these primitive organisms became more entangled with others, they grew more complicated. The first nervous systems evolved, probably in ancient relatives of jellyfish; later on, the cephalopods, which began as inconspicuous mollusks, abandoned their shells and rose above the ocean floor, searching for prey and acquiring the greater intelligence needed to do so. Taking an independent route, mammals and birds later began their own evolutionary journeys. But what kind of intelligence do cephalopods possess? Drawing on the latest scientific research and his own scuba-diving adventures, Godfrey-Smith probes the many mysteries that surround the lineage. How did the octopus, a solitary creature with little social life, become so smart? What is it like to have eight tentacles that are so packed with neurons that they virtually “think for themselves”? What happens when some octopuses abandon their hermit-like ways and congregate, as they do in a unique location off the coast of Australia? 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. Shipping We offer FREE shipping on all orders! We ship within Three business days of payment, usually sooner. We use a selection of shipping services such as UPS, FedEx, USPS etc. We only ship to the lower 48 states, no APO/FPO addresses or PO Boxes allowed. Local pickups and combined shipping options are not provided at this time. Return You can return a product for up to 30 days from the date you purchased it. Any product you return must be in the same condition you received it and in the original packaging. Please keep the receipt. Payment We accept payment by any of the following methods:PayPalPlease pay as soon as possible after winning an auction, as that will allow us to post your item to you sooner! Feedback Customer satisfaction is very important to us. If you have any problem with your order, please contact us and we will do our best to make you satisfied. Contact Us If you have any queries, please contact us via ebay. We usually respond within 24 hours on weekdays. Please visit our eBay store to check out other items for sale! Thank you for shopping at our store.

Price: 15.92 USD

Location: Phoenix, AZ

End Time: 2024-11-11T13:19:20.000Z

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