Learning From the Octopus

by Rafe Sagarin

  brain’s storage system

  complex adaptive systems

  immune system example

  reversed hierarchy

  sensors and

  specialization and

  Deepwater Horizon disaster

  Deer and signaling

  Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. See DARPA

  Deguchi Nao

  Department of Defense

  decentralization and

  lack of adaptability (fig.)

  Osprey

  “Stanley,”

  See also Afghanistan war; DARPA; Iraq war

  Department of Homeland Security

  bureaucracies and

  color-coded warning scheme

  decentralization and

  funding to states

  NOAA security and

  organizational chart(fig.)

  public using information

  TSA

  uncertainty rule of nature and

  See also Security

  Dinosaur extinction theory

  Disease outbreaks

  biodiversity as defense

  CDC and

  decentralized networks and

  host variety and

  pathogen moving from nonhumans to humans

  Spanish Flu pandemic (1918)

  threat summary

  time importance

  DNA

  basic molecules of

  redundancy and

  similarities across species

  structure discovery

  Dobbs, David

  Dogs

  marking territory

  rattlesnake aversion training

  sense of smell

  Donlan, Josh

  Drones/robots use in conflicts

  Drug addiction and adolescents

  Drug traffickers/law enforcement

  advantages of traffickers

  escalation and

  experiential learning (mētis)

  information and

  motivation differences

  technical learning (techne)

  Dziekan, Mike

  E

  Ecological niches

  Ecology of Fear (Davis)

  “Ecosystem” of finance

  Ecosystem services

  calculating value of

  overview

  See also Nature’s security services

  Ecosystems

  redundancy and

  resilience concept and

  species diversity importance

  See also Sea of Cortez/ecosystem; specific types

  Egypt and habituation effect

  Ehrlich, Paul/Anne

  Electric symbiosis

  Emergent properties and symbiosis

  Environmental protection

  adaptable cascade and

  decentralized organizations

  public trust doctrine and

  Escalation

  evolutionary arms race

  IEDs example

  information and

  missile defense shield and

  motivation differences and

  resource differences and

  See also Cold War

  Evolution

  basic tenets of

  convergent evolution

  description

  prediction and

  replication of good ideas

  self/nonself identification importance

  “survival of the fittest” and

  variation and

  Evolution and Escalation (Vermeij)

  Evolution of irrational behavior

  addiction module and

  changing irrational behavior

  examples

  sacred values and

  self-nonself identification and

  See also Religious belief systems; Security / eliminating irrational behavior; specific groups

  Evolutionary arms race

  Evolutionary psychologists

  Extinction

  dinosaurs

  “nuclear winter” theory

  F

  Facial structure/expressions

  Facultative symbiosis

  FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) (fig.)

  Fish

  cleaner wrasses and

  risk responses

  symbiosis effects

  Flood of 1927 (Mississippi River)

  Fort Hood Army base shootings

  Fungi and symbiosis

  Futures markets

  G

  “Gaia hypotheses,”

  Garvin, David

  Gates, Robert

  Geneva Conventions

  Gibbons, Gillian

  Gilly, Bill

  Gladwell, Malcolm

  Goldfish and cooperation

  “Good enough” vs. perfection

  Google

  Google Flu Trends

  Gopnik, Alison

  Graffiti purpose

  Granek, Elise

  Grapes of Wrath, The (Steinbeck)

  Gretzky, Wayne

  Guinea worms

  Gulf of California. See Sea of Cortez/ecosystem

  H

  Habituation

  Haldane, J.B.S.

  Hantavirus

  Hardin, Garret

  Hasan, Nidal Malik

  Hawken, Paul

  Heat-shock proteins

  Henrich, Joseph

  Hewatt, Willis

  Heyoka

  Hitchens, Christopher

  HIV

  Hockey players facial structure study

  Homeland Security. See Department of Homeland Security

  Homeland Security Threat Level Advisory System

  Honeybees and information

  Hopkins Marine Station, Monterey

  Hurricane Ike/“Ike Dike,”

  Hurricane Katrina

  damage inside levee walls

  effects

  oil spill cleanup and

  response

  wetlands destruction prior to

  See also New Orleans

  Hurricane Rita

  Hussein, Saddam

  I

  Iceland’s volcanic eruptions

  IEDs

  Afghanistan/Iraq (fig.)

  decrease

  U.S. troop deaths(fig.)

  Immune system

  adaptable organization and

  fevers and

  learning and

  regulators in brain

  Information

  creating/reducing uncertainty and

  escalation and

  filters and

  neutralizing threats and

  public information effects

  receivers of

  use/sharing importance

  vulnerability and

  See also Signaling

  Internet

  terrorist recruitment

  traits

  Invictus (film)

  Iraq war

  MRAPs and(fig.)

  Muslim-on-Muslim violence

  Ospreys and

  Powell Doctrine and

  recruits for jihad

  U.S. troops leaving and

  warfare changes with

  weaker side winning in

  Iraq war and adaptability

  combat level vs. leaders

  IEDs/IED protection (fig.)

  infrastructure work

  local people and

  Wilson’s question to Rumsfeld

  Israeli-Palestinian conflict

  future vs. past

  sacred values and

  Israeli-Palestinian relationship

  cooperative symbiosis and

  Middle East consortium

  scientific paper cooperation,

  Israelis

  sacred values and

  settlers

  J

  Jackson, Phil

  Jellyfish

  JIEDDO (Joint IED Defeat Organization)

  Johnson, Dominic

  Jones, R.V.

  Jordan, Ferenc

>   K

  Kennedy, John F.

  Kenney, Michael

  drug traffickers/law enforcement studies

  terrorists/counter-terrorists and

  Kin selection

  Kish, Daniel

  L

  Learning

  associative learning

  benchmarks and

  brain morphology/physiology and

  business approach

  capabilities summary

  description

  engineers approach

  experiential learning

  as force of nature

  “from failure,”

  generalization and new experiences

  human babies

  human development and

  human/nonhuman comparison

  memories and

  natural selection and

  new situations and

  organizational learning

  parental care and

  predicting the future and

  security and

  selective forces and

  sense of “self ” and

  signal differences and

  from success

  technical learning

  Learning adaptively

  adaptable cascade and

  approaches

  central control vs.

  Darwin and

  hypothetical thinking and

  imagination and

  low-probability/ one-time events and

  naturalists and

  observation and

  “Learning from Samples of One or Fewer,”

  Legume plants and bacteria

  Levin, Simon

  Lichens and symbiosis

  “Life-dinner principle,”

  Limpets

  Linked (Barabasi)

  Lipana, Noel

  Living Cirripedia (Darwin)

  “Living shorelines,”

  Los Angeles, California

  concrete surfaces and

  natural threats summary

  water mismanagement

  Louv, Richard

  Lovelock, James

  Lyme disease

  M

  Machiavelli, Niccolo

  Madin, Elizabeth

  Manakin birds and cooperation

  Mandela, Nelson

  Mangrove forests

  evidence of protective services

  storms/tsunami protection

  Margulis, Lyn

  background

  cooperation research

  symbiogenesis

  Maritime Administration, United States

  Marmots described

  Marmots threat responses studies

  “Cool Hand Lukes”/usefulness and

  description

  “Nervous Nellies”/usefulness and

  Robo Badger threat

  uncertainty and

  variation in responses

  McDougall, Christopher

  Medicine

  Darwinian medicine

  over-prescription effects

  See also Disease outbreaks; Nature’s security services/medicine

  Mekong River consortium

  Memories

  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) disease

  Middle East consortium

  See also Israeli-Palestinian relationship

  Militias (U.S.)

  Mimicry

  Mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles

  Missile defense shield

  Mola mola (ocean sunfish)

  Moses

  Motivation differences

  MRAP (mine-resistant ambush-protected) vehicles

  Music file-sharing networks

  Mussels

  Mutualistic symbiosis

  cheaters and

  description

  Mutually assured destruction, Cold War’s

  N

  Napolitano, Janet

  Narco-traffickers/law enforcement. See Drug traffickers/law enforcement

  Nation-states and conflicts

  National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS)

  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

  Natural selection

  description

  humans and

  variation and

  “Nature Deficit Disorder,”

  Nature journal

  Nature’s security services

  adaptability and

  calculating value

  Earth as self-regulating system

  overview

  running barefoot example

  summary

  Nature’s security services/medicine

  bilirubin and

  biodiversity protection and

  Darwinian medicine

  fever and

  vaccine development

  Nature’s security services/water

  cacti filtering water

  natural rivers and

  technological solutions vs.

  See also Water issues; Wetlands

  Nazis and eugenic philosophy

  NCEAS (National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis)

  Nesse, Randolph

  Networks

  attacks on London (2005) and

  examples in nature

  failure reasons

  nodes and

  U.S. strategy in Afghanistan example

  See also Internet

  New Orleans

  “100-year flood” concept and

  Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO)

  restoring wetlands

  sea level and

  wetlands destruction/effects

  See also Hurricane Katrina

  “New START” treaty (U.S./Russia)

  New York Times

  New Yorker, The

  Nielsen, Lars Peter

  9/11 attacks

  change in warfare following

  learning from failure and

  response to hijacking before/after

  See also Al-Qaeda

  9/11 Commission Report

  NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

  Nuclear weapons

  “Nuclear winter” theory

  Nudibranchs and anemone stinging cells

  O

  Oak-chaparral woodland

  Obama, Barack

  Obligate symbiosis

  Octopuses

  bite of

  blue-ringed

  capacity to blend/hide

  den use

  escapes from lab chambers

  ink sac/use

  mating behavior

  mimic octopus

  Ricketts on

  security/adaptability overview

  sharks at Seattle Aquarium and

  Steinbeck on

  tool (coconut shells) use

  Ohno, Susumo

  Oil spills

  Cosco Busan

  Deepwater Horizon

  Exxon Valdez

  following hurricanes Katrina/Rita

  On the Origin of Species (Darwin)

  Oomoto (Japanese Shinto group)

  Organization in nature

  similarities across levels

  simple building blocks of

  See also Decentralized organization in nature

  Osprey

  Congressional Tilt-rotor Technology Coalition

  development process

  funding/jobs

  problems/compromises with

  redundancy and

  Ostrom, Elinor

  Ovechkin, Alexander

  Owen, William

  P

  Palestinians

  sacred values of

  See also Israeli-Palestinian conflict

  “Paradox of the expert,”

  Parasites

  changing host behavior

  symbiosis and

  Patriot Act

  Peace of Westphalia (1647) effects

  Peacocks

  Perfection vs. “good enough,”

>   “Ping-ping diplomacy” (China-U.S.)

  Portola Expedition (1769)

  Postal service security (U.S.)

  Powell, Colin

  Powell Doctrine

  Predation failure

  Protein construction

  Protozoans and cooperation

  Public trust doctrine

  R

  Reagan, Ronald

  Recording Industry Association of America

  “Red Queen hypothesis,”

  Redundancy

  adaptable cascade and

  failures and

  financial systems after 9/11 and

  importance of

  insurgent forces and

  Internet and

  “rightsizing” and

  “trimming the fat” and

  Redundancy in nature

  acacia trees and ants

  cactus and pack rats

  DNA and

  ecosystems and

  evolutionary filters and

  evolutionary innovation and

  human/dog senses and

  “imaginative redundancy,”

  multiple human individuals and

  octopus as hunter/hunted

  protein construction and

  resilience concept and

  “specialized redundancy” example

  Reid, Richard

  Religious belief systems

  addictive systems and

  case of Gillian Gibbons and

  changing dangerous systems

  debating students about

  early world development of

  group identification and

  “intelligent design” (creationism) and

  recruitment

  rites of passage and

  signaling group loyalty

  written materials and

  See also Evolution of irrational behavior

  Resource differences and escalation

  “Rewilding North America” idea

  Ricketts, Edward F.

  background/description

  biological applications and

  Cannery Row laboratory

  observation and

  on octopuses

  reversed hierarchy in nature

  Sea of Cortez/journey

  Steinbeck and

  on variation in nature

  World War II and

  Rischard, Jean-François

  RNA translation

  protein construction and

  species similarities/differences

  viruses and

  Rodman, Dennis

  Roundup herbicide

  Rumsfeld, Donald

  Running barefoot example

  Russell, James

  Ruttenberg, Ben

  S

  Sacred values

  evolution of irrational behavior

  substitution timing

  “symbolic tradeoffs” and

  Sagan, Carl

  Sagarin, Rafe

  security analyses beginnings

  student with religious belief system

  tide pools and

  Sageman, Marc

  Salamanders and algae