Archives for October 2025

"Most octopuses live only a year or two, depending on the species.Humans, obviously, live much, much longer. And because length of life and intelligence seem connected in some way, a question naturally arises. What use is intelligence in such a very short life, especially since, as Godfrey-Smith puts it, “the machinery of intelligence is expensive, both to build and to run”? This conundrum has led to some questionable conclusions, including “a hypothesis of ‘accidental intelligence,’” as though octopuses had mistakenly developed “‘too much brain’ for animals living such brief and asocial lives.” But if their intelligence is accidental, then in what sense is human intelligence not accidental? … [Read more...]