How the octopus got its smarts
Octopus intelligence is essentially one of the multipliera for the drake equation for estimating the probability/ubiquity of intelligent ET life.<p>We have (as far as we know) one instance of life "seeding," many instances of complex life evolving. Several examples of quasi-intelligent species like dogs, apes, raven and octopi. Only one example of human-level intelligence.<p>The further they are from us/eachother in the evolutionary tree, the more likely they are to evolve independently regardless of early complex life's evolutionary choices. Octopi are <i>way</i> farther from us than birds are.<p>Fun stuff!