From: Warrl kyree Tale'sedrin (warrl@blarg.net)
Date: Fri Nov 21 1997 - 23:25:35 MST
> From: "Michael M. Butler" <mbutler@comp*lib.org>
> OK... Let me say that I have doubts about uplifting something as alien as
> octopi.They're mostly-solitary carnivores from a part of the ecosystem we know
> very little about (the cold parts of the Pacific), and they're
> startlingly-advanced cases of parallel evolution. But they're molluscs. They
> could turn into an enemy a little too easily for my liking. I'd prefer trying
> to uplift something a little closer to us--something mammalian. Call me a
> chauvinist if you want to. I used to joke about what I thought would
> constitute a _real_ "crime against humanity"--giving house cats (F.
> domesticus) hands. I think uplifting octopi might be almost as bad.
My big doubt about uplifting octopi is just how much uplifting some
of them need.
Not all octopi are mostly-solitary, it turns out.
They live all over the oceans of the world (coastal areas only), not
just the cold parts of the Pacific. One of the largest and most
intelligent species is also the dominant species of octopus in Puget
Sound, which means that the uplifters working with this species have
access to a large habitat area for them with complete cell-phone
coverage, plus all the amenities of a major US metropolitan area
about minutes (by boat) away.
As for your preference for something mammalian, might I suggest
wolverines? :-)
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