The idea of breeding cephalopods for increased intelligence is touched on in the (great) novel, "Manifold: Time".
Not cephalopods specifically, but the idea of breeding smarter animals is touched on by David Brin in his "Uplift" novels.
I've often thought about how fascinating it would be if some organization took on the long-term task of breeding for intelligence. Perhaps it would require a well-funded non-profit to provide the resources. Could it be done more open-source styled, with standardized tests, individuals breeding animals and submitting gene sequences for analysis (is there a 23andme for animals)?
How interesting would it be to (ultimately) talk to a gorilla or octopus philosopher?
Being bred for human style intelligence, it would have similar capabilities to our own in terms of cognitive capacities. Yet its metaphors for interacting with the world would all be based on the body of an octopus. It would have a tenticle in both worlds.
Some things would overlap, like big meaning important, sharp meaning dangerous or cutting. Others might not, for instance any metaphor having to do with wetness would probably have a different meaning for the octopus whose home is the water than it does for those of us on land.
That novel completely ruined squids and asteroid mining for me, because I immediately think about it. Whenever I come across a group studying cephalopod intelligence, I am waiting for someone to say they developed a computer interface that they glom to and have one operating a motorized tank.
At what point do you have to stop the experiment because the species has become too smart? A human-level intelligence that can make arguments in its own defense has a good likelihood of being recognized as having rights by a court.
Not cephalopods specifically, but the idea of breeding smarter animals is touched on by David Brin in his "Uplift" novels.
I've often thought about how fascinating it would be if some organization took on the long-term task of breeding for intelligence. Perhaps it would require a well-funded non-profit to provide the resources. Could it be done more open-source styled, with standardized tests, individuals breeding animals and submitting gene sequences for analysis (is there a 23andme for animals)?
How interesting would it be to (ultimately) talk to a gorilla or octopus philosopher?