Badass

Hi.

So it feels like it's been a while. And well I feel like I haven't kept up with my agenda since last week. I do have some pet posts I'm working on, but for some reason I've been feeling too antsy to commit the time and patience to fully write anything.

But I have been watching Science Friday (not quite so good with the audio versions yet) and I wanted to share an older one that I found when I first explored the archive of videos. And man, is it badass.


In case you're lost, double tap or single tap to play/pause these videos

Now of course, you could just watch this, be amazed, and move on with your life. Or you could continue on to read what I thought about it ^_^.

Of course my first reaction to this was: WOAH.

You literally don't see it, till you see it. And sure, now I can say - oh I can pick it out - but that's only because I've seen it so many times myself and while sharing it to awe others.
[In case you'd like another look/chance at recognizing the octopus, I've embedded the raw footage of the encounter at the very end.]

To be honest, it's kind of amazing that cephalopods can do all that visual camouflage (texture & color), given that they are color blind. And it's not a reaction to the surroundings that causes the change, it's a mechanism controlled by the visual input they perceive.

So first, let's look at what we have here. Cephalopods have never sleep. Or at least marine biologists have never found a time when they do. [Considering the amount of time they observe these creatures, I'm pretty sure we could say they never sleep ^_^]. We also know that they have incredibly squash-able bodies, so they are constantly on the move. And they're probably the experts on camouflage because it's literally their only defense against the big scary world - well, technically oceans in this case. Their only other final warning to fend off potential predators is the blanching of their skin plus a dosing of ink - very skunk-like if I say so.

And just as a side note, I love the narration for the "I'm a rock" portion. I can't help but giggling to myself everytime. And the transformation afterwards? Well, it's freaking awesome. Ok, ok, you all get that I think it's amazing...

Basically, these guys are the go to creatures for how to blend in and how to disappear from sight.

Somehow, my thoughts went straight from there, to social behaviors. I mean, we are definitely not the squishy creatures that have to fear carnivorous predators - well, maybe we kinda are.

Think about it. While we do not fear being literally eaten alive - we do fear the malicious intent of those around us. So how did I connect us to a cephalopod's behavior? Very easily. :P

The marine biologist had mentioned that he can't tell why exactly you don't see the octopus, and it's not because it's an exact copy of its surroundings. And they raised a good point - it doesn't have to be. It just has to trick you into thinking that it is. And similarly, you can see people doing that in social settings.

Now the most intense social setting that gives a good platform for my examples is high school (or middle school - either works). You have vicious stereotypes of jocks, preps, stoners, band geeks, loners, nerds, etc. But of course, everyone doesn't fit exactly into those categories. So why do people stay in groups despite that? They just might do that to, in fact, survive - just like cephalopods. After all, we might not be easily eaten physically - but we sure are mentally squishy. [If you didn't get that, I meant that we have feelings and they can get hurt - especially when you're a kid.]

I think kids blend their characters into a facsimile of the genre of people they find themselves in. On the surface, you can't tell that everyone might not be a perfect fit - they are perceived to. And in the case that someone gets too close to the truth - they might lash out in defense. Ok, so silly example, but in the show Glee, I hate myself a little for giving this example, a football player who hasn't come out of the closet, reacts violently to the suggestion that he is gay, in order to scare off others from coming to the realization that he is.

But I guess you could say that what I've described (aside from the "inking" similarity) so far is more like the character of other creatures that mimic the image of a much more ferocious animal to protect themselves - and you're probably right. Because first and foremost, the purpose of camouflage for a cephlapod is to be entirely unnoticed. It literally wants no attention at all.

Where can you find examples of that in high school? In the middle - the average. Their grades aren't high or low. They don't stand out by their behavior or intentionally draw attention to themselves. Yes, they do have friends, belong to a clique, and are invited to parties. Those are the cephalopods among us.

Maybe you'll take a look around you at work, or among the people you hang out with, and find you can see the camouflage experts around you - or you may be one yourself. But regardless, you have to admit: the real cephalopods definitely have the moves, and it's kinda badass.

Here is the second look at the raw footage - now you can impress your friends by pointing out the hidden octopus ^_^