We are an octopus
I recently learned that octopuses (not octopi!) have an alien-like distributed nervous system and intelligence, with three-fifths of their nerves spread throughout their tentacles. Each tentacle can think and act semi-independently from the brain. If a tentacle gets cut off, it can continue catching prey for several hours, not realizing its unfortunate detached situation.
The idea that one organism can be comprised of many semi-independent extensions of itself fascinated me, and I began to wonder…
Could this apply to humans as well?
Could each of us be a semi-independent tentacle of a great octopus?
In exploring this analogy (I will name it “The Octopus Theory”), I’ve unexpectedly had new realizations regarding my personal growth, relationships with others, and how we are all connected.
I’m finding this expanded perspective to be helpful in many ways, from deciding how to respond to difficult people, to understanding broader political dynamics. I hope that in sharing my tentacular explorations so far, it may spark some helpful reflections for you as well.
As tentacles of a great octopus, we are connected yet also distinct from each other.
No two tentacles are the same. We are shaped by our own unique set of physical characteristics, environments, and experiences. These influence the way we each perceive the world around us, grow into our authentic self, and express ourself.
When we grow into our authentic self and express it, we help our octopus become healthier, larger, and more colourful. As we see and appreciate each other, we help our octopus see and appreciate itself too.
Many of us experience painful things early in our life that cause us to lose connection with our authentic self. We hide away and seek protection, donning layers of armour such as emotional walls or facades of strength. While this may feel safer, these layers of armour also distort our perception of reality, and prevent us from seeing and expressing our authentic self.
With these layers in the way, it is also hard for us to feel that we are connected to a greater whole. We aren’t able to recognize our fellow tentacles and see that we are part of the same octopus.
This lack of connection can result in prejudices and fear-driven actions that harm others and ultimately harm ourselves. Too many armoured tentacles will make our whole octopus sick.
Over time, we may learn to shed our armour and find our authentic self again. It is a difficult journey, but we also become stronger and wiser as we persist through it.
I’ve found that the most radiant tentacles are often the ones who have experienced this journey, and are now supporting others to shed their armour and grow radiantly as well. These have been the most nourishing people to have in my relationship garden.
We can be tentacles of many kinds of octopuses. I am a tentacle in my “family” octopus, my “company” octopus, my “community” octopus, and countless others. According to many spiritual teachings, we are also “soul” tentacles of a “Great Universal Spirit” octopus.
Regardless of the octopus type, an octopus cannot survive without its tentacles, and tentacles do not exist without the octopus. When we recognize that we are part of a greater whole and work together in harmony with our fellow tentacles, we help our octopus thrive (and catch bigger fish!).
To achieve this, we must strive towards our own personal growth while also expanding our awareness of how we are connected to others.
Upon this reflection, I’ve come up with The Octopus Theory Equation:
[Health of each tentacle] x [Level of harmony amongst tentacles] = [Health of octopus]
To increase [Health of each tentacle], here are some helpful questions we can ask ourselves:
What layers of protective armour might I be wearing? How might I seek to better understand and have compassion for myself?
How might I connect with my authentic self and express it?
How aware am I of the protective amour that others may be wearing? How might I seek to understand and have compassion for them?
How might I help others connect with their authentic self and express it?
To increase [Level of harmony amongst tentacles], here are some helpful questions we can ask ourselves:
What “octopuses” (eg. collectives, communities, groups, teams etc) am I a part of? Which ones am I intentionally and unintentionally a part of?
How do my words and actions (or lack thereof) affect other tentacles of these octopuses (directly or indirectly)?
How might I better balance my need for growth and expression with the needs of other tentacles?
How might I better balance my need for growth and expression with what is best for the whole octopus? (This question has led to some interesting reflections about eastern vs. western culture and governance, which I will save for a future post)
Let’s keep stretching out our tentacles and helping our octopuses grow radiantly!
An aside
Exploring “The Octopus Theory” has been quite a fun intellectual ride so far. There are several more layers of this theory that I hope to write about later, but I think this is a good start.
Here are some other questions I’m currently pondering:
Is there a danger of having too many radiantly growing tentacles? Will they eventually get in each others’ way? Or will the octopus just keep growing bigger and this will never be an issue?
Octopuses only have eight tentacles, which I assume is because it is biologically optimal. I wonder if there is a maximum capacity before a collective begins to fall apart from too much diversity and autonomy. I suppose that the more tentacles there are, the more neurologically advanced the whole octopus must be in order to hold things together. Translating that into the human world: in order to have a large collective of diverse and independent people working well together, the shared vision and values amongst them must be very strong.
If an armoured tentacle harms many others, does that give other tentacles the right to cut that tentacle off on behalf of the whole?
Examples of this include capital punishment for people who have committed serious crimes, or a company firing an employee for inappropriate behaviour. But I think it’s hard to say who really is the one wearing protective armour. There are many instances of innocent people being wrongfully arrested by discriminatory police and companies firing whistleblowers who are actually doing the right thing. This question gets into ethics, unconscious/conscious biases, and deep-rooted systemic challenges that perhaps I’ll explore in a future post.
if you have any comments, insights, and other thought provoking questions, i’d love to hear from you!
Octopus readings:
[Article] If you want to know what aliens will be like, just look at an octopus by Anil Seth
[Book] The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery
Related posts that I’ve written:
My more dramatic “Octopus Theory” rendition
On healing in the darkness