All Rights Reserved by the Author
18 September 2026
An octopus does not look like an animal that should be particularly interested in solving problems.
It has no bones.
It has eight arms.
And somehow, it has become one of the most fascinating examples of intelligence in the animal world.
Scientists have found that octopuses can learn, remember and solve problems. Early experiments showed that they could learn to associate objects with experiences and change their behaviour based on what they had learned.
Then there is their extraordinary ability to manipulate objects with their arms.
Each arm has thousands of sensory structures, allowing the animal to explore its surroundings in a way very different from how humans use their hands.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the octopus is that its intelligence evolved along a completely different path from ours.
It has no language like ours.
No hands like ours.
No skeleton like ours.
Yet it can learn.
It can remember.
It can investigate.
And it can surprise scientists.
Sometimes nature reminds us that intelligence does not have one shape.
We simply recognise it more easily when it looks like us.
The octopus does not need to resemble us to be remarkable.
It only needs to be itself.
Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Instagram @rajatchandrasarmah5
YouTube: conversewithasmile
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
