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2.42k reviews for:
Rendezvous mit einem Oktopus: Extrem schlau und unglaublich empfindsam: Das erstaunliche Seelenleben der Kraken
Sy Montgomery
3.89 AVERAGE
2.42k reviews for:
Rendezvous mit einem Oktopus: Extrem schlau und unglaublich empfindsam: Das erstaunliche Seelenleben der Kraken
Sy Montgomery
3.89 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Grief
Minor: Suicide, Dementia, Suicide attempt
3.5 ⭐️ I might have liked it better had I read it rather than listened to it. It sent me to google on several occasions, always a good sign for me.
I read this book so you don’t have to. If you must - read it. Listening to the author read it was particularly disturbing in that she reads it like she’s reading to a group of fourth graders.
If you liked EatPrayLove and the whole premise of a white lady with book idea and an advance to make it happen, then you may enjoy this book.
I want to know octopuses too, damn it.
Also, not that much about octopus and a lot about this persons life and circle of humans.
If you liked EatPrayLove and the whole premise of a white lady with book idea and an advance to make it happen, then you may enjoy this book.
I want to know octopuses too, damn it.
Also, not that much about octopus and a lot about this persons life and circle of humans.
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I didn’t think reading about octopuses could make me cry but I’ve learned otherwise. It’s so beautiful reading how passionate others are about underwater creatures.
This book deepened my love for octopuses and opened my mind to giving diving a second try.
I think this book would perhaps best be described as: a Boomer naturalist’s scuba diving lesson memoir combined with guesses about what octopuses are thinking and how those supposed thoughts relate to mysteries of the universe. Plus a smattering of octopus facts that reel you in (hah) in the beginning but ultimately fade away in favor of cringey metaphors and speculations (~maybe if my child friend had visited the aquarium, she wouldn’t have taken her life~ - which editor approved this nonsense?). DNF - I got to the end of the scuba diving chapter and decided that I had had enough of hearing about her ear pain.
Fascinating findings of octopus intelligence and consciousness. The author suggests that the Octopus is the closest that we have to an intelligent alien. It evolved its form of intelligence so independently of humans, the entire structure and organization, how an octopus feels and thinks, will perhaps always remain incomprehensible to humans.
The cephalopods are in the same phylum as clams and oysters. It it the only invertebrate to evolve a high level of intelligence. The other two branches with high intelligence are mammals and birds. There is still much debate on why, evolutionarily speaking, the octopus (and other cephalopods like squid and cuttlefish) expend so much energy building a large brain, when most cephalopods are very asocial, and don't survive more than 1 year. One proposal is that after shedding their shell (their ancestors resembled the nautilus), octopi were able to explore more niches, do more with their body plan, giving rise to a large brain, and making them more effective predators. At the same their soft bodies were much more vulnerable, and likely to be preyed upon, so there we no point in spending more resources in extending their lifespan. This created the apparent paradox.
The most interesting parts of the book were the anecdotal evidence of octopi intelligence. Different octopi have different personalities. They are highly effective hunters, and hence, high selective eaters. In experiment settings, they're often offered second-rate food, frozen fish, shrimp etc. And these food choices have been said to negatively affect experiment results. For example, some octopus with strong personalities, would spend all their energy trying to destroy the experiment apparatus instead of cooperating and pushing the lever for food. One octopus allegedly held the piece of fish in obvious contempt, moved towards the water outlet, then dropped the piece of fish directly into the "toilet", all the while looking directly at experimenter straight in the eyes.
The reason for a 3 is that I didn't enjoy the deviations into philosophy, psychology, and history of the scientific field as much. And there was much of it.
The cephalopods are in the same phylum as clams and oysters. It it the only invertebrate to evolve a high level of intelligence. The other two branches with high intelligence are mammals and birds. There is still much debate on why, evolutionarily speaking, the octopus (and other cephalopods like squid and cuttlefish) expend so much energy building a large brain, when most cephalopods are very asocial, and don't survive more than 1 year. One proposal is that after shedding their shell (their ancestors resembled the nautilus), octopi were able to explore more niches, do more with their body plan, giving rise to a large brain, and making them more effective predators. At the same their soft bodies were much more vulnerable, and likely to be preyed upon, so there we no point in spending more resources in extending their lifespan. This created the apparent paradox.
The most interesting parts of the book were the anecdotal evidence of octopi intelligence. Different octopi have different personalities. They are highly effective hunters, and hence, high selective eaters. In experiment settings, they're often offered second-rate food, frozen fish, shrimp etc. And these food choices have been said to negatively affect experiment results. For example, some octopus with strong personalities, would spend all their energy trying to destroy the experiment apparatus instead of cooperating and pushing the lever for food. One octopus allegedly held the piece of fish in obvious contempt, moved towards the water outlet, then dropped the piece of fish directly into the "toilet", all the while looking directly at experimenter straight in the eyes.
The reason for a 3 is that I didn't enjoy the deviations into philosophy, psychology, and history of the scientific field as much. And there was much of it.
I'm not sure how to rate this one. I did enjoy the book immensely, because of course it is all about octopuses. But at times the authors' writing annoyed me. She jumped around and at times it was hard to follow along. It was a very touching story of her friendships. I am however, very jealous that she is friends with such amazing creatures!
This is structured as an account of Montgomery’s time volunteering with the octopus as the Boston aquarium, with science and field trips thrown in, rather than a straight, all-science explanation of the octopus.