Other Minds

In Other Minds Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith explores questions of consciousness by examining the evolution and life of the octopus and the cuttlefish.  These animals have large and complex nervous systems particularly in terms of their body size putting them in the company of the more intelligent mammals and birds.  The genetic ancestor they share with us lived more than 600 million years ago (in contrast the last common genetic ancestor we share with birds lived 320 million years ago). This means evolution had to come up with two different ways to build an intelligent brain.  We can use those different answers to examine questions about intelligence, self-awareness, perception and the like.

The book was quite interesting.  I picked it up because I am fascinated by octopuses but I am also interested in questions of how brains form a sense of self and interact with the world.  Despite being written by a philosopher with a stated goal of examining philosophical questions I felt the book remained pretty firmly in the observational and scientific world.  Written in non-scientific terms the book is easily accessible to the lay person.  I would recommend it.