Beyond the Octopus: From General Intelligence Toward a Human-Like Mind

Abstract

General intelligence varies with species and environment. Octopuses are highly intelligent, sensing and rapidly learning the complex properties of their world. But as asocial creatures, all their learned knowledge dies with them. Humans, on the other hand, are exceedingly social, gathering much more complex information and sharing it with others in their family, community and wider culture. In between those extremes there are several distinct types, or levels, of reasoning and information sharing that we characterize as a metaphorical “ladder” of intelligence.