A few years ago I read The Soul of an Octopus and I haven’t been the same since. I was astounded throughout Sy Montgomery’s book. What scientists are currently learning about octopuses is literally beyond our imagination.
“Human eyes have three visual pigments, allowing us to see color. Octopuses have only one—which would make these masters of camouflage, commanding a glittering rainbow of colors, technically color-blind. How, then, does the octopus decide what colors to turn? New evidence suggests cephalopods might be able to see with their skin.”
“Assessing the mind of a creature this alien demands that we be extraordinary flexible in our own thinking. Marine biologist James Wood suggests our hubris gets in our way.”
So many of the assumptions we’ve made throughout history about octopuses have been replete with bias. Humans have known of octopuses for most of recorded history, yet our profoundly limited way of thinking has blinded us to the aliens in our midst.
According to Merriam-Webster, “Hubris was a character flaw often seen in the heroes of classical Greek tragedy, including Oedipus and Achilles.”
Hu·bris ˈ(h)yo͞obrəs/
noun: hubris
- Excessive pride or self-confidence.
- Synonyms arrogance, conceit, haughtiness, hauteur, pride, self-importance, egotism, pomposity, superciliousness, superiority;
- Antonyms: humility
Today I listened to an interview on the TED Radio Hour podcast (“In Search Of” 3-22-18) with oceanographer and deep sea explorer Edith Widder, who was on the team that first filmed the adult giant squid off the coast of Japan in 2012. At the conclusion of the interview the host asked, “Is there something you have a hunch about that might be down there that we don’t know for sure that you’re looking for?”
And this groundbreaking deep ocean explorer answered, “No, the one thing I’ve learned about exploring the deep is that you just can’t even begin to imagine some of the bizarre creatures that are down there. I don’t have any hunches at all except that we’re going to be amazed.”
Brilliant scientists regularly make discoveries that even they couldn’t imagine. These are the role models I want to embrace. How many times has hubris gotten in my way, in my everyday life right here on the surface of the planet? What new discoveries could I make, or problems might I solve, if I challenged myself to always be extraordinarily flexible in my own thinking? I want to live my life wide awake and prepared to be amazed.
This post is my daily Slice of Life (#SOL18) and is a part of the annual March challenge hosted by Two Writing Teachers. According to Two Writing Teachers, a Slice of Life, or simply a “Slice,” is “a story about a small segment of someone’s day, a poem that tells about a small moment in time, a collection of words and photos that describes a scenario.”
Octopi see with their skin??? And have to be flexible in their thinking??? Interestingly, at my dog training class today, one of the things they talked about was how they work to help the service dogs learn to be creative thinkers and problem solvers. I think the universe is speaking to me???
ReplyDeleteIsn't that book absolutely astounding?? That book sent me down an octopus Internet rabbit hole, and my poor family had to come too. I forced them to watch so many octopus youtube videos and listen to a lot of amazing octopus facts. I'll have to check out that Ted Talk podcast. I do love that line about how the only thing she knows for sure is that we're going to be amazed. That is a good way to go through life--prepared to be amazed.
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