Peter Godfrey-SmithCritiques

Overview:
What defines science, is still in conflict. How science functions has changed over time, and continues to change. This is a history to the philosophy of science, the foundational ideas to science. Questioning how science searches for truths, for patterns. Empiricism has a skeptical edge, questioning how much can actually be known about how reality functions. External skepticism questions the patterns that frame the sensations of the world. Inductive skepticism questions how much the past experience predicts the future.

Generalizations have limited value because of the problem of induction, for generalizations do not contain all observations. The not yet observed can provide contradictions to the generalized, with a single contradiction changing the entire value of an idea. Confirmation of theory, does not mean a theory has been proven. Confirmation provides partial rather than decisive support for theories. Theories need to prove themselves by putting themselves to tests that can potentially falsify them. Theories need to take risks. Ideas can be logically consistent, but that does not mean empirically valid.

There are those who think that objective facts can be separated from value judgements, are part of descriptive theory. Others who think that facts and values cannot be separated, are part of normative theory which also raises claims about what should be. Some ideas might be more objective, but usually there are values attached. Scientists do not passively receive information. They actively select information. Science is about the choices that the scientists make.

Caveats?
This book was meant for students, with a broader audience in mind. The results are mixed. The book can act as a reference book, and be a used as an introduction to the various ideas which are part of science. But, there are sections that would be better understood under the guidance of an instructor. Written in a manner that requires someone who already has knowledge about the ideas to understand the ideas further, or be explained in lecture form.

This is a delight of a book!
It's a non-fiction book that examines the consciousness, or otherwise, of octopus, squids, and cuttlefish. Full of interesting facts about the lives of octopus, it also delves into what is meant by "consciousness" more broadly.
The author is a philosopher, with a passion for sealife. He manages to deliver serious content without be didactic or boring.

I enjoyed this book, which was something of a survey of the evolution of the “mind” Not just the human mind, but what constitutes sentience, minimum cognition or a subjective experience.
I was pleased whenever the author was relating either experiments that seemed to demonstrate aspects of these states of consciousness in various creatures or relating anecdotes about personal experiences he felt demonstrated some aspect of what he was writing about. I e joyed less the discussions of materialism, monism, etc. Of course, complaining there’s too much philosophy in the philosophy ook is a bit churlish. Overall, a great and thought provoking read

a very interesting read. I was glad to find that it was more science than philosophy. The author basically explores the rise of nervous systems and brains and how this connects eventually to the state of "consciousness" He explores what that might mean and how different species interact with the world around them.He mentions several of the studies that have been done with Octopuses and more recently cuttlefish and also explores the idea of why an animal with such a short and basically non-social life should wind up being one of the smarter kids on the block

This is one of the best science books I have read, with the right balance between narrative and science scope.

The story is basically one of the evolution of intelligence or consciousness even, as seen through the lenses of distant relatives of ours with enormous but diffuse brains, the octopus.

A poignant ecological question ends the book, which we hope is not in vain...

A Moby Dick for octopuses.

Finally a compelling rejection of the vast amount of nonsense dreamt up by well meaning (but misguided) philosophers of mind.

If you’re curious as to what’s going on when you experience curiosity, this might be the book for you; it was for me.

Really interesting and eye-opening, although the parts of the second half were just "neat things about cephalopods" instead of deeper contemplation of what their minds (and the minds of aliens) might be like.

Metazoa is, according to the book itself, the second part of an imagined trilogy of books by Godfrey-Smith. Where "Other Minds" relied heavily on an introduction to the philosophy of mind and the octopus in particular, this book feels like an intermediate course that tries to build from the starting blocks of biology at the earliest stages of the tree of life to formulate the basics of perception to bridge into the question of consciousness.
However, it's also clearly half a thought. It ends with a series of speculations that beg the existence of the concluding part to flesh out the ideas touched upon in this book.

I liked the widening of the topic, the bottom-up narrative, but can't five star it when it's just half of a complete work.

A very interesting book with a comfortable, conversational style. There is a lot of science packed into it, though, so even with a background in biology it wasn't one I could sit with and read for long stretches. Definitely something to check out if you like these wonderful creatures, just don't expect it to be a quick read.

This is a fascinating book on the biology and especially the brain and nervous system, generally, of octopuses - or, as they were called when I was a 'ute, octopi. There is a lot in this book; there is a lot to know about these remarkable creatures.

Good science writing. Things to think about.

One incredibly interesting book for anyone who enjoys learning about evolution - and cephalopods, of course.

Written by a philosopher, the writing is really accessible and really engages the reader - unlike a lot of scientists' approach to this subject - and dives deep into the world of the evolution of large brains and intelligence and how they have evolved along completely different evolutionary paths.

It also explores the world and habits of cephalopods, particularly octopuses, but a fair bit about cuttlefish as well. These really are the most incredible creatures.

Well worth a read.

Contemplative and beautiful

The author is a philosopher of Science. This is a discussion of the evolutionary origin of consciousness with much, albeit referenced, speculation, and centered largely on the seeming intelligence of Cephalopods (primarily the Octopus and Cuttlefish). The text is rambling and includes digressions on, for example, Baboon behavior and an excellent summary of the evolutionary theory of aging. Although it is not quite a fully organized classical essay, I enjoyed all of it, especially the information on the natural history of the Cephalopods. A few remarks, e.g. 'the esophagus of the Octopus passes through its brain', will probably lead me to more reading on the anatomy of these animals. Oh, and that may be it for me and Calamari.

Dr. Godfrey-Smith is an Australian scuba diver who was trained as a philosopher of science and is the author of Other minds about the probable sentience of cephalopods. This book is a discussion of the notion that sentience or consciousness was acquired gradually, i.e. not as an all or none phenomenon, by animals as they evolved new kinds of senses and actions over time, and especially as they developed nervous systems. Furthermore, not only did consciousness develop in this way, but it exists today in various degrees in non-human animals.

The strength of the book is the author's fascinating description of various mostly sea creatures and his personal observations of their behaviors. Other less interesting parts of the book that are about theories of consciousness, including mention of neuronal oscillations and the generation of energy fields, are necessarily vague and require some hand-waving in their exposition.

This book is a fascinating mix of philosophy and evolutionary biology, examining cephalopod cognition. Godfrey-Smith asks questions about the nature of senses, cognition, and consciousness, and how they might be different between humans and octopuses. He traces the evolution of brains and how our different evolutionary trees led to different cognitive needs: in particular, because cephalopods do not have any sort of shell or other physical protection, they need a lot of intelligence to survive.

There is lots of fascinating food for thought here. Philosophy and evolution are both topics that can get really dense, but Godfrey-Smith's writing is clear and easy to follow.

Godfrey-Smith writes this book as a philosopher while following the science of evolution and intelligence. His approach was refreshing and enjoyable to read.

A wonderful book! Continues the exploration of consciousness he started in “Other Minds” by looking at other forms of life. Great combination of biology and philosophy of mind, with lots of reasoning based on evolutionary theory. Also, the author is a great observer of wildlife. Finally, I loved his writing style - he doesn’t lecture the reader, instead he brings you along on a voyage with him. He has a definite point of view, but he is humble and is respectful to those who he doesn’t agree with. Reminds me of Darwin, and what higher praise is possible?

Nice combination of biology and philosophy looking at the evolution of consciousness. Lots of great stories about octopuses too, if you like that kind of thing (of course I do).

Enjoyable read. It demonstrates how much more interesting the octopus really is. This a great compliment to the book The Soul of an Octopus.

Um livro acessível abordando os cefalópodes inteligentes e suas características tão alienígenas, traçadas a uma bifurcação evolutiva milhões de anos atrás, que os separou de nós e os animais que nos cercam. Com a tese que a consciência é um tipo de processo mental mas não caracteriza a existência de mentes, Godfrey-Smith conta anedotas e experimentos, ligando-os com especulações sobre os processos mentais e a informações instigantes. "a química da vida é marinha" explicaria nosso funcionamento celular aquático. As mudanças de cores da pele dos cefalópodes, seu camaleonismo, certamente expressivo, não precisa ser necessariamente comunicativo. É preciso investigar (os polvos não vêem cores). O sistema nervoso disperso implica uma coordenação menos centralizada, mas que articula cooperações entre membros do indivíduo e o cérebro, curiosamente perto do estômago. Seu corpo maleável e moldável é fascinante, como um animal de adaptação intensa e voltado à criação de soluções inusitadas.

Há hipóteses interessantes: com uma combinação fortuita de fatores, a diminuir predação, pode ser que os solitários polvos não sejam tão antissociais. Sua vida curta pode estar ligada à priorizar mutações ligadas a habilidades imediatas mas que taxam o organismo depois de um tempo (o que é uma teoria do envelhecimento, as consequências de certas adaptações se manifestando tardiamente como decaimento). O aprendizado rápido dos polvos e chocos (cuttlefish) e seu comportamente curioso pode ter relação com essa necessidade evolutiva de aceitar habilidades para o agora, mesmo que elas cobrarem no futuro.

Ademais, se a consciência é o ápice da resposta lenta, com nossas vozes internas que preparam o espaço para ponderação, voltada para lidar com novidades e imprevistos, é interessante como os cefalópodes podem ter lidado diferentemente com essa necessidade de enfrentar a novidade.

Excellent

Other Minds: The Octopus, The Sea, and The Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith.
That title is a mouthful and a steep order for the expectations of this book, and what it seeks to accomplish. Sadly, when the reading is all ‘said and done’ it falls short of those lofty expectations. The parts of the narrative where the author observes the various cephalopods and describes their behavior are the most interesting parts of the reading. Many people find the octopus and its relatives intriguing, and they are by virtue of their unique make up and obvious intelligence. But those interesting observations are mixed in with a lot of supposition and evolutionary opinion musing that left the reader wanting if they were really seriously looking for the origins of consciousness within this book. A natural history treatise about the octopus would have probably held more interest than all the ruminating the author was trying to do within the pages of this book. 3.5 stars½

I’m trying to read more non-fiction and ‘Other Minds’ was first on my list. It’s a fascinating examination of Octopuses and the way in which their intelligence evolved. The book combines philosophy, biology and evolutionary theory in a way I found really engaging and easy to read. Highly recommended.