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Is an Octopus Too Smart For Us To Eat?

Posted by Soulskill on from the no-use-crying-over-spilled-ink dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The New Yorker is running a piece on the ethical dilemma we face when considering octopus intelligence alongside our willingness to eat them. "Octopus intelligence is well documented: they have been known to open jars, guard their unhatched eggs for months or even years, and demonstrate personalities. Most famously, they can blast a cloud of ink to throw off predators, but even more impressive is the masterfully complex camouflage employed by several members of Cephalopoda (a class that also includes squid and cuttlefish)." While humans eat animals ranging widely in mental faculties, the octopus remains one of the smartest ones we do consume. And unlike pigs, for example, their population is not dependent on humanity to survive. As our scientific understanding of intelligence grows, these ethical debates will only come into sharper focus. Where do we draw the line?

9 of 481 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Pigs are dependent on humanity? by denzacar · · Score: 3, Informative

    You mean like buffalo and wild boar?
    I'm guessing somewhere between plenty and a hell of a lot.

    The key word is "dependent". Panda is dependent on humans to survive. Pigs... nope.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  2. Pigs don't really need us... by Biogoly · · Score: 3, Informative

    "And unlike pigs, for example, their population is not dependent on humanity to survive." As the epidemic of destructive feral pigs around the world demonstrates, pigs born in human captivity unfortunately have no problem surviving on their own.

  3. Re:Its not about intelligence by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually octopuses are cute, squids not so much, but still.
    You can play with them like with a young cat. And yes, they are smart enough to leave an aquarium, cause random trouble and climb back in.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  4. Re:No eating of species capable of tool use. by will_die · · Score: 3, Informative

    Oops http://www.cell.com/current-bi...

  5. Re:People by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Informative

    we are not carrion eaters

    Yes we are. There is a lot of evidence that ancient humans ate carrion. Even today, most meat is aged before it is sold, because humans prefer to taste a bit of a carrion tang. Fresh meat doesn't taste as good to us.

    Disclaimer: I am a vegetarian.

  6. Most animals? by tlambert · · Score: 3, Informative

    Social contract? What a load of crap. Most animals do not eat member of their own species. Do you you think it's because they also have a "social contract"?

    I think you have never owned chickens, gerbils, rats, mice, hamsters, and never read about sand tiger sharks, polar bears, spiders, parasitic wasps, or tiger salamanders.

    All of the listed animals eat their young. I guess the ones that get eaten don't have opportunity to sue for "breach of social contract"...

    1. Re:Most animals? by Oligonicella · · Score: 4, Informative

      This subthread is really about eating their own species. Chimps have been observed doing so and it's common knowledge that lions will kill and eat offspring that isn't theirs. Just killed (wah) your first two points.

      But to continue: wolves will, polar bears have been photographed doing so and brown bears will. We've now covered four main groups of large land mammals.

      It is very common in fish, most all carnivorous insects will and has been mentioned, birds will, although it's usually the squab that gets it.

      To quote wikipedia "Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded for more than 1500 species." In other words, many species absolutely will kill/eat their own.

  7. Re: People by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ugh. Not only not aged properly, but overcooked. Gross.

    The proper way to order a steak is "scare it with a flashlight", but only after it's been properly dry aged.

  8. Re:Yes by brianerst · · Score: 3, Informative

    I wouldn't necessarily rank whales higher (or lower) than octopi. As we've learned from corvids (crows, jays, ravens), absolute brain size and organization isn't a particularly good indicator of intelligence. Crows (who have brains the size of a large peanut) score very similarly to great apes.