Cephalopods (octopi and cuttlefish) have evolved with complex nervous systems that we are only beginning to understand. How do you feel when most of your neurons are embedded in your arms? How do we feel as we contemplate these creatures across the abyss of non-human incomprehension? What can we humans learn from sharing space with mysteriously distributed other minds? About our own body as a membrane for camouflage, warning and display? About shapeshifting as a political practice?

See our "probably the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien" reading list.