After all, they don't have lungs, spines, or even a plural noun we can all agree on.

畢竟，牠們並沒有肺、脊椎或甚至大家都搞不清楚章魚複數的英文怎麼唸

But what they do have is the ability to solve puzzles, learn through observation, and even use tools, just like some other animals we know.

但牠們卻具有解開謎題、透過觀察來學習， 甚至是使用工具的能力， 就像其他我們所熟悉的動物一樣

And what makes octopus intelligence so amazing is that it comes from a biological structure completely different from ours.

而讓章魚的智慧如此令人驚艷的原因在於牠們的生物結構與我們截然不同

The 200 or so species of octopuses are mollusks belonging to the order cephalopoda, Greek for head-feet.

約有兩百多種的章魚被歸類在頭足綱 (Cephalopoda 一詞源自希臘文的頭與腳) 下的軟體動物

Those heads contain impressively large brains, with a brain to body ratio similar to that of other intelligent animals, and a complex nervous system with about as many neurons as that of a dog.

牠們的頭部內有著令人印象深刻的巨大大腦，牠們大腦與身體的比例和其他智慧動物差不多， 並具有與一隻狗差不多的複雜神經系統

But instead of being centralized in the brain, these 500 million neurons are spread out in a network of interconnected ganglia organized into three basic structures.

但是這五億個神經元並不是全部集中在大腦區域，而是分散在一個互相連結的神經節網路中，並分別組織成三個基本結構

The central brain only contains about 10% of the neurons, while the two huge optic lobes contain about 30%.

中央大腦只包含大約 10％ 的神經元，而其他兩個巨大的視葉則囊括了 30％

The other 60% are in the tentacles, which for humans would be like our arms having minds of their own.

剩下的 60% 都包含在觸手當中，以人類來比喻就好像手臂具有自己的心智一般

This is where things get even more interesting.

這讓事情變得更有趣了

Vertebrates like us have a rigid skeleton to support our bodies, with joints that allow us to move.

像我們這種脊椎動物具有堅固的骨骼來支撐我們的身體，並有關節讓我們能夠自在活動

But not all types of movement are allowed.

但我們並非任何姿勢動作都辦得到

You can't bend your knee backwards, or bend your forearm in the middle, for example.

舉例來說，你不可能把膝蓋往後扳，或是從前手臂的中間點彎曲

Cephalopods, on the other hand, have no bones at all, allowing them to bend their limbs at any point and in any direction.

反觀，頭足類完全不具有骨骼，讓牠們能夠在任何方向和關節點處彎曲肢體

So shaping their tentacles into any one of the virtually limitless number of possible arrangements is unlike anything we are used to.

因此牠們的觸手能夠做到近乎無限的任何形狀或動作，與我們的結構相差甚遠

Consider a simple task, like grabbing and eating an apple.

試想一個簡單的任務，像是抓取一顆蘋果然後吃掉它

The human brain contains a neurological map of our body.

人類大腦中有一幅身體的神經元網絡地圖

When you see the apple, your brain's motor center activates the appropriate muscles, allowing you to reach out with your arm, grab it with your hand, bend your elbow joint, and bring it to your mouth.

當你看見蘋果後，大腦中運動中心便啟動適當的肌肉群， 讓你的手臂可以拿到那些蘋果、 用手掌把蘋果抓起來、 彎曲你的肘關節，然後和把蘋果放入你的嘴中

For an octopus, the process is quite different.

對一隻章魚來說，整個過程是很不一樣的

Rather than a body map, the cephalopod brain has a behavior library.

反觀人類體內所擁有的神經元地圖，頭足類的大腦具有著一個行為記憶圖書館

So when an octopus sees food, its brain doesn't activate a specific body part, but rather a behavioral response to grab.

所以當一隻章魚看見了食物，牠的大腦並不會運作身體的某個特定部位， 而是進行一套行為上的抓取回應動作。

As the signal travels through the network, the arm neurons pick up the message and jump into action to command the movement.

當信號傳遞過整個網絡，手臂的神經元就會收到訊息然後介入指揮運動的操作。

As soon as the arm touches the food, a muscle activation wave travels all the way through the arm to its base, while the arm sends back another wave from the base to the tip.

一旦手臂碰觸到食物，一個肌肉啟動訊號波會傳到手臂的根部， 而手臂則會從根部回傳另一個訊號到端部。

The signals meet halfway between the food and the base of the arm, letting it know to bend at that spot.

這些訊號會在食物和手臂根部的中間點相會，讓手臂知道要在哪個點彎曲。

What all this means is that each of an octopus's eight arms can essentially think for itself.

這表示章魚的八條觸手中的每一條都能夠自己獨立思考。

This gives it amazing flexibility and creativity when facing a new situation or problem, whether it's opening a bottle to reach food, escaping through a maze, moving around in a new environment, changing the texture and the color of its skin to blend into the scenery, or even mimicking other creatures to scare away enemies.

這讓牠們在面對新的狀況和問題時能運用驚人的應變性和創造力，不論是要打開一個瓶子以拿到食物、 逃脫迷宮、 在新環境中遊走、 改變自己皮膚上的紋理和顏色以隱沒入周遭的環境當中， 或者甚至模仿其他生物來嚇走敵人等等。

Cephalopods may have evolved complex brains long before our vertebrate relatives.

頭足類動物可能遠早於我們脊椎動物的祖先，先行演化出了複雜的大腦。

And octopus intelligence isn't just useful for octopuses.

而章魚的機智並不只對章魚自己有幫助。

Their radically different nervous system and autonomously thinking appendages have inspired new research in developing flexible robots made of soft materials.

牠們與人類截然不同的神經系統和擁有自主思考能力的肢體，對於發展以柔軟材料製造出具有應變性的機器人的新興研究上來說有很大的啟發。

And studying how intelligence can arise along such a divergent evolutionary path can help us understand more about intelligence and consciousness in general.

而研究在如此分歧的演化路途中智慧生物是如何出現的，能夠幫助我們加深對於智慧和意識的更多瞭解。

Who knows what other forms of intelligent life are possible, or how they process the world around them.

誰曉得還有哪些種類的智慧生物可能存在，而牠們又是如何感知周遭的世界的呢？