this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2026
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Fun fact worth noting: humans and octopodes split back when our shared bodyplan was effectively a worm who just got legs. Octopuses have been shown to be able to learn and memorize letters, patterns, their different keepers (e.g., spitting at one particular keeper they didn't like), etc., and all the intelligence they've been demonstrated to learn evolved separately from humans.
So we've actually got two examples of "worm with newly-evolved legs" becoming pretty damn smart on Earth, not just one - which makes my bet more on the "if the biosphere got to worms with legs, there's a lot of smart stuff there"
I hear a biologist once say that if the octopus could live to be 80 like humans, they would be in charge of the planet instead of humans.
The main disadvantage octopi have is their antisocial behavior. The parents don’t raise and teach their young. They live in solitude. The only time they spent time together is for mating, after which they die.
Octopuses that can talk to each other, hunt in groups, and raise their young collectively would be pretty formidable. Even if they managed to get there, they would still be living underwater making the use of fire pretty difficult.
Children of Ruin is a great book that describes a civilization of octopus, if you want to explore this a bit.