When Octopus realize they don't have to starve themselves to death when they are 3 years old that will be the end of our reign.

Funny coincidence, I was just reading "Sphere" by Michael Crichton, and the zoologist in the novel was presenting the same argument about the the intelligence of octopuses. Side-note, this book is driving me crazy, the characters seem to be the dumbest persons alive, although they supposed to be the smartest scientists.

You can actually prevent them from starving themselves by destroying a small part in their brain.

Strange! Anywhere I can read more about that? And ideally the study about how they figured that out!

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/198/4320/948 and a more recent one https://jeb.biologists.org/content/221/19/jeb185751

From Wikipedia:

> Octopus lifespan is limited by reproduction: males can live for only a few months after mating, and females die shortly after their eggs hatch. ... Octopus reproductive organs mature due to the hormonal influence of the optic gland but result in the inactivation of their digestive glands, typically causing the octopus to die from starvation. Experimental removal of both optic glands after spawning was found to result in the cessation of broodiness, the resumption of feeding, increased growth, and greatly extended lifespans.

TIL

Damn, how greatly?! Why do they leave us hanging? What were the natural causes they died of?

Some of the octopus are still alive today.

For anyone looking for a serious answer, the 1977 experiment seems to have extended life for several months (which is almost double the lifespan in some species), before they died for another reason which was not explained.

What I gather is that the optic gland controls all hormone secretion, and although they were able to prevent the digestive system from being blocked by removing it, the same gland likely is necessary in other areas.

That's an unfortunate evolutionary rut to be stuck in.

I really appreciate this line of thought. It can be easy to brush stuff like this off as frivolous, but when you look at it from a more primitive perspective, it really is amazing, and it truly seems to me like art

It has been said time and time again, but I'll reiterate that time spent having fun is not time wasted. While many of the hackernews readers would like to think that we are machines, we aren't. I'm sure you've wasted lots of time on certain things over the years, so why the snide comment?

I’d replace “having fun” with “doing something fulfilling”.

It has the same subjectivity but hits closer to why we regret some things and not others. Surfing is fun and fulfilling to me where cocaine is only fun but unfulfilling.

That the author wasted their time is purely your opinion, and really adds nothing to the conversation here. Why insult someone for doing something you don’t find interesting?

A lot of line rider folks get this kind of reaction. I truly think there’s some kind of insecurity that gets triggered in people when they see someone doing something intricate and esoteric with obvious passion.

Is it a jealousy at not finding such a passion, or for being unable to dedicate sufficient time to make something of a similar scale? Is it that they see such passion as wasted because the subject in question doesn’t match their own interest? Do they not believe it is deserving of the eyes that are on it now?

You can speculate, but at the end of the day, making something, and showing it to the world like this, is an extreme vulnerability. The act of making something is often as valuable as the result itself.

I do believe it is to some degree jealousy. Everybody understands the scarcity and power of passion; what’s work for some is love for others. When you compound a lack of passion, insecurity and bad human character, it’s not surprising to have reactions similar to purplecats’ above.

« Should have done something more productive »

Why?

The capitalism machine demands that your free time be used for something monetizable. Since this project has no commercial value it must be worthless.

You can't monetize the video?

Line Rider can be a source of income. My Line Rider Review cohost Bevibel, the creator of the 50-minute full-album track This Will Destroy you (ref https://youtu.be/qasxqKScOfY), does commissions full time in addition to their personal projects. Sometimes it’s small clients, sometimes it’s Disney. Helped them out with a music video for Guster once after the band saw a track they had already made to one of their songs. It’s a fun niche market.

Agreed. It's not an innate intelligence that makes us stand out. It's our capacity to share our intelligence and build upon solutions from friends, parents, and many generations of ancestors.