Suckerless but What the Hey
Today is International Cephalopod Awareness Day. So I’m making sure everyone’s aware that octopuses are supposed to have suckers. Please pay no heed to the image on the right (the full version of which you may see if you click on it). Also, any resemblance to any hypothetical deities is obviously absolutely incidental. ETA: The octopus is loosely based on Wunderpus and Mimic octopus. Loosely!
While creating this image I’ve been thinking of what kind of role cephalopods play in my life. The answer is, unfortunately, not a big one. Sweden doesn’t really have a lot of them. However, they do sometimes turn up in discussions with people who believe God created Man as the crown of all creation.
Why? Because their retina is the right way around, as compared to the vertebrate eye. When light travels into a human eye, it has to pass through a layer of blood vessels and nerve cells before it finally reaches the photosensitive cells. While this doesn’t degrade the image received all that much, some light scattering does happen. Also, as a result of the nerves being in front of the photoreceptors, they have to at one point plunge through the retina to create the optic nerve to the brain. This creates the oh-so-famous blind spot.
The cephalopod eye, which develops differently but is remarkably similar to its vertebrate counterpart, has the photosensitive cells pointing towards the light instead of away from it. No blind spot, that is. A much more logically constructed eye - the way a designer would have made it.
So, my question to believers is obviously: Does your god like octopuses more than men? Maybe they were supposed to rule the earth…
Cephalopod Awareness Day Alert #3
More cephalopods are being celebrated everywhere. Send me more! Cephalopod eyes, and a question: Does your god like octopuses more than men? I don’t know about you, but any gods I might have would be cold and cruel and…
Trackback by Pharyngula — October 8, 2007 @ 22:51
Nice picture!
Maybe God asked the octopuses if they would like to rule the world, and they answered:
“….?…..nah….”
Comment by Enkla Z — October 9, 2007 @ 11:49
Fantastic picture, Felicia!
And now I want octopus eyes. >sulk
Comment by The Flying Trilobite — October 9, 2007 @ 12:28
Z; Yeah, that kinda makes sense. At least if you think octopuses are intellectually superior to humans. I mean, just look at where being the “crown of creation” has gotten us so far
Trilobite; Thanks! Nice to get praise from an artist!
Comment by Felicia Gilljam — October 9, 2007 @ 12:30
The stripes are great. Peppermint-flavoured cephalopods. Mmmmm….
Comment by The Flying Trilobite — October 9, 2007 @ 14:10
Now that you mention it, it does have a certain resemblance to Polkagrisar. However, I was using this octopus as a model, among others.
Comment by Felicia Gilljam — October 9, 2007 @ 14:40
I love the picture, it’s beautifully done.
I also adore the logic here. After all, who is to say that squid and octopi arent the underwater crown of creation? if we visit the ocean floor, will we see tiny cephalopod-built cities?
Comment by Lyanvis Suzusuke — April 1, 2008 @ 22:38