Why are WE the 'Pinnacle of Evolution' and NOT THEM?

Imagine a creature that has three hearts pumping blue blood through the vessels.
Although it has an almost amorphous body resembling a bag of water, it can easily open a bottle, even a baby-proofed one.
It can feel light or even taste with its skin!
It has no ears, but it hears well even in the infra range.
It can instantly change color and texture, becoming indistinguishable from the environment. Even though it doesn’t identify colors at all and sees the world in black and white.
It’s venomous and can be hostile, but at the same time, it’s curious and even playful.
On top of that, it’s highly intelligent and can solve non-trivial problems.
In addition to the main brain, it has EIGHT smaller brains in different parts of the body. And these additional brains make their own decisions!
Who is this monster? Does it come from Earth?
Yes, you got that right.
It’s an octopus.
And, of course, it comes from our planet.
Although… Some scientists entertain another idea.
But first things first.
The Mystery of Octopus.
#octopus #reyouniverse

[Zsokorad]

There's no such thing as "the pinnacle of evolution." Evolution has no end goal. Every creature is as evolved as it needs to be for its environment and niche.

[keefbeef]

Had a favourite octopus I knew working as a dive guide in the Red Sea. One time it was looking out of it's little cave in the coral and a large parrot fish started harassing it and acting aggressively.
The octopus looked at it in a bored manner for a few seconds and then instantly transformed into a parrot fish. Colour, texture, markings all perfect.
Important to note there was no physical contact at all.
The octopus in its disguise then started teasing the real parrot fish.
The parrot fish freaked out and ran away.
They are the most incredible creatures I have ever encountered.

[idakt]

I remember that viral video of a guy who saved a small octupus who had washed up on the shore and after getting hydrated, it briefly came back to thank the man by resting its tentacle on his boot for a few seconds before going back into the ocean. I didn't know they were that smart.

[smelltheglove]

Strange they have such short lives. If they lived longer they’d probably have some sort of civilization underwater.

[dudebro]

As a father of two toddlers and a dog I’m forever grateful that I can’t taste with my skin.

[PowerScissor]

I actually learned to open a baby bottle too. It took me about 26 years, but I was only trying hard for the last 11 years or so.

[StefanCreates]

I never realized they did that texture change, that's absolutely crazy

[johnholmes]

It sees colors accurately by the greyscale. It repeats the shade of grey.
Photographers use this method to colorize black and white photos

[hunterlinton]

"Octopineapples" are literally the stuff of science fiction. Between them, spiders, slave-keeping ants, parasitoid wasps, and humans with our nukes and tiktok dances, it really makes you wonder what else is out there.

[nominal]

I had one for 3 years. It would eat out of my hand, but no one else's. Amazing creatures.

[ChessMasterNate]

He skipped over their amazing genetics. That is what motivated those scientists to think it might come from somewhere else. They have 168 protocadherin genes. Those are genes that code for brain complexity. We don't have half that many. They also have sophisticated stuff that allows them to genetically modify themselves to fit their environment better. They don't need to wait for selection.

[Giuliana-zxgd]

By definition, evolution, reaches no pinnacle. Evolving is constant and has no end

[Krunschy]

What's crazy to me is not just how smart these creatures are, but the fact that they get there entirely without nurture. Just imagine what they could achieve if not every octopus had to start from square one.

[DiscordianDisciple]

Ever since hearing about an octopus that "didn't feel like" solving a puzzle for scientists, I've been fascinated by them! An animal that simply refuses to participate because it just couldn't care less? That's unnerving LOL

[jamieblanche]

If only we could talk to them. I'd LOVE to know about an octopus' sense of self. With 9 brains on board, albeit one main one, how does that work in terms of internal narrative and consciousness? Fascinating

[dylusionl]

i actually think their solitary lifestyle and lack of guiding parents is the very reason WHY they are so incredibly adaptable in the first place. This crucible of having to learn literally everything from direct first hand experience is a necesity. If a parent were to guide the baby to learn survival from them (second hand), then they would become attached to knowledge of how to survive in a given circumstance, but that would make it dreadfully difficult to teach how to survive in all circumsances. Very buddhist/daoist style nonattachment lol

It's like when an high perfomer or entrepreneur says 'I had to learn the hard way, but wish I had the chance to learn this success formula from the beginning.' So they teach a skill in a way far different from the way they themselves learned, the result being that very few if any of their audience will actually end up succeeding in similar fashion.

The octopus probably lays so many eggs out of a recognition that only a small percentage of the babies will have suitable early life experiences of learning to adapt well enough. I bet this ties into why they have natural curiosity and desire for self amusement

[magicien]

I really like the idea that they will mimic jellyfish and other ocean life just for fun. Like "Oh look at me im a jellyfish"

[alanrogers]

I think that, IF cephalopods lived longer than about three years, they may have the opportunity to demonstrate their intelligence better, possibly joining together to actually produce physical items that would be amazing to see.

[gorganhorn]

I always had a feeling these octopuses were scouting units for the Tyranid Hive Fleets. Thanks for proving it with your video.

[Oodle-oxvf]

Octopus DNA is still closely related to ours, despite their different appearance. The idea that they are Alien is just plain stupid.