This sounds like you must have read the Children of Time series by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
And if you haven’t, I recommend reading it, especially for all the Octopus people out there. It confirms many of the Octopus personality traits you described and adds some more facets.
I’m about to finish the third book and had to click on your post when I saw the title. Really enjoyed reading it. Thanks
Thanks Simon never heard of this book series, I read a quick summary online, so apparently there’s some kind of super evolved race of Octopuses? I’ll be honest, I probably won’t read the book, but just curious what the Octopus people do in the novel? If it’s too hard/long to explain don’t worry about it, I’m just curious how they’re portrayed.
the way the octopi (There's a debate in the book about the correct plural form. I think it said that octopi is actually not the correct word) are described in the novel, overlaps a lot with the attributes you used to describe 'Octopus People'.
Here's some key characteristics:
Curiosity:
This is the dominant character trait described in the novel. It's the main driver for everything the octopi do. Humans can't train them like Pavlov's dog, since they are not after quick rewards, but after novelty.
Visual communication:
This causes one of the barriers of human-octopus understanding. Octopi use their skin (color and structure) and movement (dancing with their many arms) to communicate. Their communication is much more emotion focused, and it's an effort for them to not communicate. They constantly wear their emotions and opinions on their skin.
Disloyalty in a positive way:
They are open to new ideas and arguments, and can easily be persuaded to switch sides in a discussion, without being called traitor by their previous allies.
Distributed brain and consciousness:
There's an interesting relationship between the head brain (called 'Crown' in the novel) and the arm brains (called 'Reach'). The 'Crown' can set a goal, and the arms work together but independently from the 'Crown' on a solution. When the problem is solved, the octopus - or the 'Crown' of the octopus - might not understand how the goal was achieved.
I'm not sure where to draw the line between actual octopus biology and fiction, but I guess that's intended in good science fiction writing.
Thanks Simon, I googled and there seems to be no official term for plural octopuses, perhaps because they tend to be solitary creatures and are not found in groups.
These traits from the book are interesting, curiosity is definitely a dominant trait as well as the distributed brain. It’s interesting how disloyalty is framed, Octopus people tend to get bored easily or lose interest in things so might be seen as flighty, changing their mind, or “switching teams” often.
What I like about the novel’s characterizations is that there are perhaps some downsides to being an Octopus, I will probably elaborate on what I think these are in a future post. I think we need to be realistic that every personality type has shadow/risk sides that must be dealt with and overcome or minimally at least acknowledged so one can still operate effectively as an Octopus despite those potentially negative traits.
Thanks for taking the time to provide this summary!
Love this. Couldn't agree more... I wrote a similar (albeit, far less articulate) article about having many creative interests and a rejection of 'specialisation' or 'finding a niche'. It's called 'Stay In Your Lane, Boy' if anyone cares to read it...https://thecommoncentrist.substack.com/p/stay-in-your-lane-boy
Hi Pete, glad you like the concept, I read your Stay In Your Lane post, I thought it was great, definitely a common conundrum for artists, musicians, and other creative people trying to make a living from their craft. By definition creative people have diverse interests, so it is tough when the market demands they focus only on one. It does seem to be possible, but difficult.
Dave, great post. I believe I am very much the same as you. I have endured career-choice-paralysis out of an unwavering discomfort of choosing one thing for the rest of my life. That concept still perturbs me. Octopus life is a fantastic analogy, and I can't help but get excited by the prospect of living one myself. I do think, however, that it's a luxury you can buy yourself if you are wealthy and well-established, or the inverse as well - a life you can lead if you are willing to make certain sacrifices (a big home in a nice area, or a family). I guess what I'm saying is that I believe it's hard to achieve - however I'd gladly be proved wrong! Thanks for the post - a refreshing read. Subbing for more stuff life this.
Hi Ned, thanks for the comment and for subscribing, glad you like the Octopus analogy. How to fund an Octopus life is a definitely a big challenge, especially if you don’t want to be forced to do one thing as your main occupation and source of income. But with the rise of freelancing/fractional work, and the ability to monetize creative projects like never before, I think it’s possible to cobble together the equivalent of one full time job’s traditional salary. I’m working on this now and hope to make it work, and show other people what’s possible. I’m not independently wealthy but I do have some cushion for experimentation, which I don’t take for granted, and don’t assume everyone has. But the nice thing is it doesn’t have to be an “all or nothing” endeavor. One can “add a tentacle” to one’s existing occupation and build from there.
Adding a tentacle at a time... that's a great point. It could be seen as a longer term, more gradual goal. Well power to you anyway, I'm excited to follow your journey.
There's a book by Barbara Sher (Refuse to Choose) about people she calls "Scanners" and it's pretty much the same thing, though analogy to Octopus feels much better. Thank you for this content, finally I found a spirit animal (other than Sloth) I can relate to!
Hi Jacek, yup I’ve heard of Barbara, I think I saw her give a talk on Youtube but have not read her book. I don’t like the term “scanners” because it just implies looking at options but not necessarily doing anything, but I get her point.
I can be a sloth sometimes too :) I’m a slothopus.
I immediately thought of Barbara Sher’s “Refuse to Choose” as well. Probably worth the read for an insight or two, but it also sounds like you’ve given a lot of thought to this as well. Love the octopus spirit animal idea.
It’s been a while since I’ve read it, and it looks like I haven’t finished my notes on it yet. But I do remember her being an awesome cheerleader for embracing one’s uniqueness. Like, it’s okay to be who you are and here’s how to deal with being interested in and curious about everything. 😆 She covers many things you touched on (this and the other post) in more depth. Like, famous “scanners” throughout history, strategies for being a scanner (or octopus!), identifying different types of scanners, exercises, etc. A fun quote: “To Scanners the world is like a big candy store full of fascinating opportunities, and all they want is to reach out and stuff their pockets.” I believe I discovered her through Emilie Wapnick who later described the same thing as “Multipotentialites” in her TEDx talk, book “How To Be Everything” (haven’t read that one yet) and community “Puttylike.”
Got it thanks Justin, I may give that book a try, I like the idea of just totally embracing this way of life and being OK with it. Other people have recommended David Epstein's "Range" which I haven't read either. I did watch Emilie's TED talk about Multipotentialites and thought it was great. It is interesting how many different names there are for Octopus people, I suppose in a funny way it makes sense, that we have so many interests and we think about things in so many different ways, we may as well have many names for ourselves too! I would love to join Emilie's community but I'm a bit short on community cash at the moment. Thanks for sharing your experience with the book.
Of course, isn't it great!? Thanks for laying out the Octopus concept! And thanks for mentioning "Range" again / it looks like I'm going to have to pick that one up sooner rather than later.
Banger. Such a helpful model. Slays the specialization lords. And nearly all of the charlatan coaches out there who never move any needles out there preaching the gospels. This model is apocryphal. Wonderful.
This is great. I'm definitely an Octopus person. I work part time as an adult education tutor (teaching creative writing and leading guided walks), part time as a wildlife surveyor. I'm also a conservation volunteer and a writer.
Hi Juliet, glad to meet a fellow Octopus! I like that your "tentacles" are different but also do seem to have a common thread of nature/wildlife/conservation. Will be interested to see where your projects take you.
Ok this is very interesting and thought provoking. I believe I am a specialist octopus. Or is that just something an octopus would say?! I happen to have a specialist job that overlaps with my passion that overlaps with what I love that overlaps with etc etc so that part is very ikigi friendly but I have blocks and struggles finding the center ikigi bc I am a jack of all trades, I can adapt to most environments and people, I’m a paradox to most and I get the feedback that people don’t know where to put me box wise. I also have many passions and things I want to explore in this life and I think bc of the models you describe in your last article I feel indecisive bc I am not just following one clear path but trying to traverse many.
Glad you found it interesting. You can be an Octopus and have a specialist arm. Sort of like an extra-strong tentacle. All your tentacles don't have to be the same length or strength. I'm going to elaborate on this idea in a future post. It's ok to have many passions and things you want to explore. It's only the specialist focused corporate world we live in that's making us feel like having a lot of interests is strange. It's not. That's why Ikigai is dangerous for people like us, it paralyzes us and makes us indecisive because we don't want to get our "one thing" wrong. I would throw away the Ikigai diagram out of your life, it's not intended for someone like you. Go ahead and traverse your many paths, enjoy the variety and spice of life!
Thank you for these reflections. I am noticing surprising resistance to the idea of throwing out the ikigi which is hilarious bc I had no idea I was attached to something im aware existed but haven’t made much conscious efforts to complete for myself. In fact a person I respect their work had recently suggested I utized it as a tool. I am becoming more aware how romantic the idea of all aspects of you connecting into the one thing really was to me. As an octopus I think it was challenging but it felt like a challenge u needed to undertake. So I am noticing that and letting that exist while I exhale to the other possibilities this perspective today has opened me up to like just traversing the paths and not needing to endlessly link them. I agree like you say it feels like freedom (and spaciousness). I feel like substack is sometimes a bunch of writers thanking each other for exisiting but honestly you really added value to my life today! So thank you! Glad to find your stack.
Awesome glad it helped crack something open for you. Just to be clear, I don't think Ikigai is a terrible exercise, as the individual components do make you think about what's important in life to you, but what I strongly object to is trying to intersect them all and find "one thing" in the middle, this is a terribly paralyzing, constrictive exercise for many people.
yes i hear that part- and it was the part i thought i hadnt “cracked” yet. Exactly- the process of reflecting on the components seems useful. So does your freeing way of organizing.
This was all very resonant. I left my full-time role in April to start my own consultancy which is code for “I can do so many things so I’ll just stay open for them all.” I try all the time to focus in on just certain things I want to “market” myself for and it feels terrible. At this moment, I am focused on finding “projects” I’m excited about instead of a career and that is feeling better. Thank you for writing this.
Glad it hit home, I'm also venturing out on my own after a full time role as well, and have been wrestling with what a re-imagined work life could look like. I decided to stop trying to "pick one thing", and take the exploratory Octopus approach instead. It is freeing, but also a bit challenging as I can't find too many people attempting something like this. I like thinking of the tentacles as "projects" too, instead of "jobs" because it feels more creative, fluid, and easily discarded/ended, it gives me less pressure to turn everything into a "job". I'll be interested to see how the journey unfolds for you as well, I like seeing how you're marrying brand strategy with soul/breath work, I've not seen those two put together in quite this way before. I wish you all the best!
This sounds like you must have read the Children of Time series by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
And if you haven’t, I recommend reading it, especially for all the Octopus people out there. It confirms many of the Octopus personality traits you described and adds some more facets.
I’m about to finish the third book and had to click on your post when I saw the title. Really enjoyed reading it. Thanks
Thanks Simon never heard of this book series, I read a quick summary online, so apparently there’s some kind of super evolved race of Octopuses? I’ll be honest, I probably won’t read the book, but just curious what the Octopus people do in the novel? If it’s too hard/long to explain don’t worry about it, I’m just curious how they’re portrayed.
Hi Dave,
the way the octopi (There's a debate in the book about the correct plural form. I think it said that octopi is actually not the correct word) are described in the novel, overlaps a lot with the attributes you used to describe 'Octopus People'.
Here's some key characteristics:
Curiosity:
This is the dominant character trait described in the novel. It's the main driver for everything the octopi do. Humans can't train them like Pavlov's dog, since they are not after quick rewards, but after novelty.
Visual communication:
This causes one of the barriers of human-octopus understanding. Octopi use their skin (color and structure) and movement (dancing with their many arms) to communicate. Their communication is much more emotion focused, and it's an effort for them to not communicate. They constantly wear their emotions and opinions on their skin.
Disloyalty in a positive way:
They are open to new ideas and arguments, and can easily be persuaded to switch sides in a discussion, without being called traitor by their previous allies.
Distributed brain and consciousness:
There's an interesting relationship between the head brain (called 'Crown' in the novel) and the arm brains (called 'Reach'). The 'Crown' can set a goal, and the arms work together but independently from the 'Crown' on a solution. When the problem is solved, the octopus - or the 'Crown' of the octopus - might not understand how the goal was achieved.
I'm not sure where to draw the line between actual octopus biology and fiction, but I guess that's intended in good science fiction writing.
Thanks Simon, I googled and there seems to be no official term for plural octopuses, perhaps because they tend to be solitary creatures and are not found in groups.
These traits from the book are interesting, curiosity is definitely a dominant trait as well as the distributed brain. It’s interesting how disloyalty is framed, Octopus people tend to get bored easily or lose interest in things so might be seen as flighty, changing their mind, or “switching teams” often.
What I like about the novel’s characterizations is that there are perhaps some downsides to being an Octopus, I will probably elaborate on what I think these are in a future post. I think we need to be realistic that every personality type has shadow/risk sides that must be dealt with and overcome or minimally at least acknowledged so one can still operate effectively as an Octopus despite those potentially negative traits.
Thanks for taking the time to provide this summary!
Love this. Couldn't agree more... I wrote a similar (albeit, far less articulate) article about having many creative interests and a rejection of 'specialisation' or 'finding a niche'. It's called 'Stay In Your Lane, Boy' if anyone cares to read it...https://thecommoncentrist.substack.com/p/stay-in-your-lane-boy
Hi Pete, glad you like the concept, I read your Stay In Your Lane post, I thought it was great, definitely a common conundrum for artists, musicians, and other creative people trying to make a living from their craft. By definition creative people have diverse interests, so it is tough when the market demands they focus only on one. It does seem to be possible, but difficult.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
Dave, great post. I believe I am very much the same as you. I have endured career-choice-paralysis out of an unwavering discomfort of choosing one thing for the rest of my life. That concept still perturbs me. Octopus life is a fantastic analogy, and I can't help but get excited by the prospect of living one myself. I do think, however, that it's a luxury you can buy yourself if you are wealthy and well-established, or the inverse as well - a life you can lead if you are willing to make certain sacrifices (a big home in a nice area, or a family). I guess what I'm saying is that I believe it's hard to achieve - however I'd gladly be proved wrong! Thanks for the post - a refreshing read. Subbing for more stuff life this.
Hi Ned, thanks for the comment and for subscribing, glad you like the Octopus analogy. How to fund an Octopus life is a definitely a big challenge, especially if you don’t want to be forced to do one thing as your main occupation and source of income. But with the rise of freelancing/fractional work, and the ability to monetize creative projects like never before, I think it’s possible to cobble together the equivalent of one full time job’s traditional salary. I’m working on this now and hope to make it work, and show other people what’s possible. I’m not independently wealthy but I do have some cushion for experimentation, which I don’t take for granted, and don’t assume everyone has. But the nice thing is it doesn’t have to be an “all or nothing” endeavor. One can “add a tentacle” to one’s existing occupation and build from there.
Adding a tentacle at a time... that's a great point. It could be seen as a longer term, more gradual goal. Well power to you anyway, I'm excited to follow your journey.
There's a book by Barbara Sher (Refuse to Choose) about people she calls "Scanners" and it's pretty much the same thing, though analogy to Octopus feels much better. Thank you for this content, finally I found a spirit animal (other than Sloth) I can relate to!
Hi Jacek, yup I’ve heard of Barbara, I think I saw her give a talk on Youtube but have not read her book. I don’t like the term “scanners” because it just implies looking at options but not necessarily doing anything, but I get her point.
I can be a sloth sometimes too :) I’m a slothopus.
I immediately thought of Barbara Sher’s “Refuse to Choose” as well. Probably worth the read for an insight or two, but it also sounds like you’ve given a lot of thought to this as well. Love the octopus spirit animal idea.
Thanks Justin, I may give it a read, was there anything in particular from her book that jumped out to you?
It’s been a while since I’ve read it, and it looks like I haven’t finished my notes on it yet. But I do remember her being an awesome cheerleader for embracing one’s uniqueness. Like, it’s okay to be who you are and here’s how to deal with being interested in and curious about everything. 😆 She covers many things you touched on (this and the other post) in more depth. Like, famous “scanners” throughout history, strategies for being a scanner (or octopus!), identifying different types of scanners, exercises, etc. A fun quote: “To Scanners the world is like a big candy store full of fascinating opportunities, and all they want is to reach out and stuff their pockets.” I believe I discovered her through Emilie Wapnick who later described the same thing as “Multipotentialites” in her TEDx talk, book “How To Be Everything” (haven’t read that one yet) and community “Puttylike.”
Got it thanks Justin, I may give that book a try, I like the idea of just totally embracing this way of life and being OK with it. Other people have recommended David Epstein's "Range" which I haven't read either. I did watch Emilie's TED talk about Multipotentialites and thought it was great. It is interesting how many different names there are for Octopus people, I suppose in a funny way it makes sense, that we have so many interests and we think about things in so many different ways, we may as well have many names for ourselves too! I would love to join Emilie's community but I'm a bit short on community cash at the moment. Thanks for sharing your experience with the book.
Of course, isn't it great!? Thanks for laying out the Octopus concept! And thanks for mentioning "Range" again / it looks like I'm going to have to pick that one up sooner rather than later.
Banger. Such a helpful model. Slays the specialization lords. And nearly all of the charlatan coaches out there who never move any needles out there preaching the gospels. This model is apocryphal. Wonderful.
Hey Richard, thanks, glad you liked it!
Definitely an octopus here! (Raises tentacle…) Also a 7 on the Enneagram. I think there is a lot of overlap there.
Cool, nice to meet a fellow Octopus! I'm a 9 on the Enneagram. I'm less familiar with the 7, what traits do they have that support being an Octopus?
me, an octopus teacher, entrepreneur, musician, producer, handy-man, landlord, father, aspirational dog-sitter, writer
Hey Sean, I definitely think you qualify to call yourself an Octopus!
For sure! But I am liking Kegan's "Self-Transforming Mind" ... a heart-mind !
“Hi, my name is Priscilla, and I am an octopus person.”
Welcome to the Octopus Family :)
This is great. I'm definitely an Octopus person. I work part time as an adult education tutor (teaching creative writing and leading guided walks), part time as a wildlife surveyor. I'm also a conservation volunteer and a writer.
Hi Juliet, glad to meet a fellow Octopus! I like that your "tentacles" are different but also do seem to have a common thread of nature/wildlife/conservation. Will be interested to see where your projects take you.
Thanks Dave. I should also add that I craft things too, I enjoy sewing and making jewellery.
In that case you are a true Octopus!
Thanks!
Wow. I have never thought of myself through this perspective, but you've made something click for me. Thank you for sharing this!
Hi Kait, glad it resonated with you!
This is such a valuable and inspiring read. Thank you
Thanks Marco, glad you liked it!
Ok this is very interesting and thought provoking. I believe I am a specialist octopus. Or is that just something an octopus would say?! I happen to have a specialist job that overlaps with my passion that overlaps with what I love that overlaps with etc etc so that part is very ikigi friendly but I have blocks and struggles finding the center ikigi bc I am a jack of all trades, I can adapt to most environments and people, I’m a paradox to most and I get the feedback that people don’t know where to put me box wise. I also have many passions and things I want to explore in this life and I think bc of the models you describe in your last article I feel indecisive bc I am not just following one clear path but trying to traverse many.
Glad you found it interesting. You can be an Octopus and have a specialist arm. Sort of like an extra-strong tentacle. All your tentacles don't have to be the same length or strength. I'm going to elaborate on this idea in a future post. It's ok to have many passions and things you want to explore. It's only the specialist focused corporate world we live in that's making us feel like having a lot of interests is strange. It's not. That's why Ikigai is dangerous for people like us, it paralyzes us and makes us indecisive because we don't want to get our "one thing" wrong. I would throw away the Ikigai diagram out of your life, it's not intended for someone like you. Go ahead and traverse your many paths, enjoy the variety and spice of life!
Thank you for these reflections. I am noticing surprising resistance to the idea of throwing out the ikigi which is hilarious bc I had no idea I was attached to something im aware existed but haven’t made much conscious efforts to complete for myself. In fact a person I respect their work had recently suggested I utized it as a tool. I am becoming more aware how romantic the idea of all aspects of you connecting into the one thing really was to me. As an octopus I think it was challenging but it felt like a challenge u needed to undertake. So I am noticing that and letting that exist while I exhale to the other possibilities this perspective today has opened me up to like just traversing the paths and not needing to endlessly link them. I agree like you say it feels like freedom (and spaciousness). I feel like substack is sometimes a bunch of writers thanking each other for exisiting but honestly you really added value to my life today! So thank you! Glad to find your stack.
Awesome glad it helped crack something open for you. Just to be clear, I don't think Ikigai is a terrible exercise, as the individual components do make you think about what's important in life to you, but what I strongly object to is trying to intersect them all and find "one thing" in the middle, this is a terribly paralyzing, constrictive exercise for many people.
yes i hear that part- and it was the part i thought i hadnt “cracked” yet. Exactly- the process of reflecting on the components seems useful. So does your freeing way of organizing.
This was all very resonant. I left my full-time role in April to start my own consultancy which is code for “I can do so many things so I’ll just stay open for them all.” I try all the time to focus in on just certain things I want to “market” myself for and it feels terrible. At this moment, I am focused on finding “projects” I’m excited about instead of a career and that is feeling better. Thank you for writing this.
Hi Leigh,
Glad it hit home, I'm also venturing out on my own after a full time role as well, and have been wrestling with what a re-imagined work life could look like. I decided to stop trying to "pick one thing", and take the exploratory Octopus approach instead. It is freeing, but also a bit challenging as I can't find too many people attempting something like this. I like thinking of the tentacles as "projects" too, instead of "jobs" because it feels more creative, fluid, and easily discarded/ended, it gives me less pressure to turn everything into a "job". I'll be interested to see how the journey unfolds for you as well, I like seeing how you're marrying brand strategy with soul/breath work, I've not seen those two put together in quite this way before. I wish you all the best!
Same to you! Looking forward to following along your journey.
Gratitude is the most powerful force in the universe.
——The Power (written by Rhonda Byrne）
A great term for how I feel. I can't keep confined to one interest. I'm always looking to learn new things and various topics. Thanks for sharing
Yeah me too! I've decided to embrace it and not shut it down, and see if I can turn this into an advantage somehow.
Thankyou …