Where Is It Like to Be an Octopus?
Frontiers in systems neuroscience January 1, 2022 Sidney Carls-Diamante 28 citations
Octopuses may experience a unique form of consciousness that diverges from human understanding. Their nervous system, comprising over 500 million neurons, is decentralized, allowing each arm to operate independently. Remarkably, severed arms continue to display behaviors akin to those of the intact animal, suggesting an autonomous consciousness. This hints at the concept of "multiple consciousness," where both the octopus and its arms possess distinct experiences. Thus, the octopus consciousness may encompass not just the whole being but also individual arms—an intriguing notion in the study of sentience.