Exploring the Deep Origins of Consciousness: A Look into the Minds of Octopuses and the Sea

RJC: Fantastic book on the incredible octopus. Will cause you to stop eating this magnificent creature. Have given this book as a present multiple times, highly recommend.

United States on Nov 20, 2023

Pinkasfeld: was nice

United Kingdom on Oct 26, 2023

Kindle-Kunde: Wenn man sich etwas mit der Evolution von Bewusstsein beschäftigen möchte, ist dies ein gut geschreibenes Buch. Der Oktopus dient dem Autor als Bezugspunkt, es wird allerdings auch über Allgemeines bzw. andere Arten sinniert.

Germany on Oct 18, 2023

Marcos Santos: Este pedido fue entregado en tiempo y forma

Mexico on Oct 05, 2023

A. Quijano: Es muy bueno

Spain on Jul 18, 2023

Mr. Wol Wallace: Found this book quite absorbing as to the origins, behaviour of octopuses, other cephalopods with the rest of life on this planet and know considerably more than I did about their intriguing species; certainly worth a read noting that the author is a philosopher not a marine scientist so quite an achievement. My only disappointment as such (which NB is relatively minor) is his summary which is somewhat abrupt and an anti climax when would have appreciated something which (acknowledging all the hard work he must have done compiling this study) draws together more emphatically why understanding octopuses is so important.

United Kingdom on Jul 15, 2023

Mikio Miyaki: How did we become us? What makes a clear distinction between human and other creatures? It is thought we have consciousness. Doesn’t other life have mind? Peter Godfrey-Smith tries to answer these esoteric questions on “Other Minds,” shedding light on ecological aspect of octopus, using his profound knowledge on philosophy, biology, and evolution. It would’t be any use to be considerate on octopus’s feeling, like, how do they feel about their life? Reading “Other Minds” makes me feel that an octopus lives as a distant relative who came down another line of evolution, and has another tale to tell. As Godfrey-Smith says evolution might built minds twice over, and put an octopus as the closest intelligent alien around us.

Octopuses sit on a very far branch on an evolutional tree from ours. Their common lifespan is said to be less than two years. Hawaiian account octopuses as lone survivors from an earlier world. Old science-fiction-novels features octopus like aliens without fail. Octopuses have lost their shell entirely during a long path of evolution, which gave them mobility, dexterity, and nervous complexity, and also a live-fast-die-young lifestyle. They...

United States on May 27, 2019

C. M. Stahl: This was a profoundly interesting book to read. I became intrigued after seeing a review of it and had never come across the author before. It was intriguing primarily for the subject matter which I had a minor level of curiosity about. It was however, the first book I have read about cephalopods. My other experiences have been by reading articles and lately watching YouTube videos.
It is not simply about octopuses and squids though. It is about using those life forms to explore bigger things like intelligence, consciousness and how animals including humans understand their environment. The author explores evolutionary possibilities about how animals come to relate to conspecifics, predators and prey. There are others which do not fit any of those categories.
As a book written for a popular audience it is not replete with scientific jargon and when new words or concepts are introduced, they are explained in understandable language with very good examples to provide perspective. Maybe the thing I appreciated the most was that it was written using a lot of questions and humble suggestions rather than offering grand new theories. It made for a far more thought provoking read...

United States on Jan 13, 2017