Summary of Sy Montgomery's The Soul of an Octopus

Everest Media

• Publisher: Everest Media LLC
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781669385776
• Topic: Ciencias biológicas
• Subtopic: Biología marina

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.Sample Book Insights: #1 I wanted to meet the octopus. I wanted to touch an alternate reality. I wanted to explore a different kind of consciousness, if such a thing exists. Is it anything like being a human.#2 The giant Pacific octopus is one of the fastest-growing animals on the planet. It can grow both longer and heavier than a man in three years. It is also one of the most dangerous animals in the aquarium.#3 Athena's suckers were extremely intimate, and she was pulling me steadily into her tank. I would not fit, because my bones and joints would not allow me to go with her.#4 The giant Pacific octopus is not as big as it used to be. The largest octopus listed by The Guinness Book of Records weighed 300 pounds and had an arm span of 32 feet.

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I wanted to meet the octopus. I wanted to touch an alternate reality. I wanted to explore a different kind of consciousness, if such a thing exists. Is it anything like being a human.

#2

The giant Pacific octopus is one of the fastest-growing animals on the planet. It can grow both longer and heavier than a man in three years. It is also one of the most dangerous animals in the aquarium.

#3

Athena’s suckers were extremely intimate, and she was pulling me steadily into her tank. I would not fit, because my bones and joints would not allow me to go with her.

#4

The giant Pacific octopus is not as big as it used to be. The largest octopus listed by The Guinness Book of Records weighed 300 pounds and had an arm span of 32 feet.

#5

The way Athena presented her head to me was unusual, but her behavior was particularly surprising given her personality. She was a particularly feisty octopus who was prone to excitement.

#6

The idea of octopuses with thoughts, feelings, and personalities is still controversial among some scientists and philosophers. The prejudice is particularly strong against fish and invertebrates, who are often denied the dignity of a mind.

#7

It is easy to misunderstand animals, especially those that are similar to us. It is tempting to assume that animals feel the same as we do, especially when we want them to like us.

#8

Octopuses are a foreign species to many people. They are not just another nation, but an alien from a distant and menacing galaxy. But to me, Athena was more than just an octopus. She was an individual who I liked very much, and she was leading me to a new way of thinking about thinking.

#9

The suckers on the octopus are extremely strong, and it can pull itself off of a person if it wants to. It can also pull out an eye if it wants to.

#10

The risk of your octopus becoming bored is that they may try to go somewhere more interesting. They are Houdini-like in their ability to escape their enclosures.

#11

Wilson and Bill were ahead of the curve in terms of octopus enrichment. They had created a safe toy that was worthy of an octopus’s intellect.

#12

The octopus Athena is quick to show her affection for Wilson. She turns over, like a puppy showing its belly, when she receives a fish from him. She never shows her beak.

#13

Wilson worked with octopuses, and he said that they were very gentle creatures. He said that they were similar to toddlers and kids, in that they were very gentle.

#14

We can also mimic another person’s emotional state. This involves mirror neurons, a type of brain cell that responds equally whether we’re watching another perform an action, or whether we’re performing that action ourselves.

#15

The aquarium had several octopuses, each one trained to open Wilson’s boxes. They all learned how to open the locks fairly quickly. Truman, the most active octopus, was an opportunist.

#16

The author visited Athena again, and this time noticed that the octopus was asking for food. She was not as curious about the author anymore, and did not approach her in the same way.

#17

I was sad to hear that Athena had died, because I had only met her three times, and yet I had developed a connection with her. I wondered what it was like to be a bat, and if we can ever...