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Kindle Notes & Highlights
Octopuses in at least two aquariums have learned to turn off the lights by squirting jets of water at the bulbs when no one is watching, and short-circuiting the power supply.
They are smart in the sense of being curious and flexible; they are adventurous, opportunistic.
Though the right side cannot usually speak, it can control the left hand. So it can choose objects by touch, and draw pictures. In various experiments, different images are provided to each side of the brain. If the person is asked what they have seen, their verbal response will follow what was shown to the left side of the brain, but the right side – controlling the left hand – may disagree. The special kind of mental fragmentation seen in split-brain humans seems to be a routine part of many animals’ life.
