Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith

The wonderful people at Tills Bookshop let us borrow Other Minds: The Octopus, The Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness from their shelves when we went to visit them back in those bright, carefree days of browsing bookshops after squeezing into the window seat of a busy cafe for a great big bowl of porridge. What a time.

Other Minds tells of how nature became aware of itself, focusing on where animals first appeared — the ocean. It asks how the octopus became so smart, and what it’s like to have tentacles packed with so many neurons that they essentially think of themselves.

If you’re interested in animal intelligence, we recommend listening to this episode of Brian Cox and Robin Ince’s podcast The Infinite Monkey Cage with guests ornithologist Professor Tim Birkhead, marine biologist Helen Scales and author Danny Wallace. Scales tells of the coconut octopus, and of the rare places on earth where the usually secluded octopus are found living in groups, socialising and perhaps even developing language.

Peter Godfrey-Smith is a professor in the School of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney. Other Minds: The Octopus, The Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness is his fifth book.