My Octopus Teacher (Netflix) and the secrets of intelligence
To read the nature, one needs to be in the jungle. And how exotic could that be unless it is underwater, where most of the secrets lay hidden…foremost being the secret of intelligence.
In the Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher, Craig Foster narrates his year-long relationship with an octopus…only to realize that its intelligence is superior to humans in many ways. It has a brain function that is not strictly centralized but ingrained in its whole physiology. It is large enough to accumulate a million years of learning, one that outwits the fiercest predators…and emotionally connects with the strangest friend (Craig himself).
Craig chronicles the octopus’ journey of life, where it defends itself against adversaries using complex armory of camouflage…and incredible presence of mind.
Yet nature has forged such a specie only to be led a short auto-destructive life, dedicated solely to genetic perpetuation. Craig confronts the painful irony of a seemingly wasteful superintelligence devout to hard design of nature…at the cost if its own individual persistence.
Octopuses are born orphans. No mentoring do they get in their exposure to the treacherous wild. Yet they carry rich lineage of knowledge, skill and adaptive intelligence (both rational and emotional).
A sound scientist in genetics once told me about epigenetics. It is a newly evolving science that is set to prove that not only behavior, but also knowledge passes through generations…and extra-genetically so. Here we are talking about million years of sophisticated invertebrate learning. This takes us back to the 2000 year old Socratic doctrine — Meno paradox (knowledge is inherited; learning is only a process of recall).
However, the two motors of intelligence — attitudinal drive (Freudian sublimation, if you will) and (epi)genetic lineage — are two guarded secrets that artificial intelligence dare not hack!
The picture above is of Craig and the octopus….published on Wikipedia, Netflix artwork.
