Mwili Unaofikiri

Asubuhi ya tatu, Chiara alikuwa na jaribio jipya. Aliweka njia ndogo ya akriliki kwenye sakafu ya tanki. Njia hiyo ilikuwa na kipande kimoja cha nyama ya kaa katikati. Kuta zilikuwa wazi, lakini njia ilikuwa ngumu: kona mbili za kulia, moja ya kushoto, na lango dogo la chumba ambalo lilifunguka kutoka upande mmoja tu.

On the third morning, Chiara had a new experiment. She placed a small acrylic maze on the floor of the tank. The maze had a single piece of crab meat at its centre. The walls were transparent, but the route through was complex: two right turns, a left, and a small chamber gate that pushed open from one side only.

Pasta tayari alikuwa akitazama kutoka kwenye kona yake ya kawaida. Chiara aliweka kamera ndogo ya video kwenye ukingo na kurudi nyuma.

Pasta was already watching from her usual corner. Chiara set up a small video camera on the rim and stepped back.

Kile ambacho Polly aliona kilikuwa kitu ambacho hakuwahi kuona hapo awali.

What Polly saw next was something she had never seen before.

Pasta alituma mikono miwili kuelekea kwenye njia kabla mwili wake haujatoka kwenye kona. Mikono hiyo miwili ilihama kwa uhuru. Moja ilipita juu ya njia, ikichunguza muundo. Nyingine iliteleza sakafuni, ikielekea kwenye mlango wa njia. Mikono hiyo miwili haikushirikiana. Ilikuwa ikifanya kazi kana kwamba ni viumbe tofauti.

Pasta sent two arms toward the maze before her body left the corner. The two arms moved independently of each other. One went over the top of the maze, exploring the structure. The other slid along the floor, into the maze entry. The two arms did not coordinate with each other. They were operating as if they were separate creatures.

Hii haikuwa tashbihi. Chiara alieleza, wakati ilikuwa ikitokea: pweza ana karibu milioni mia tano za neva. Theluthi mbili haziko kwenye ubongo wake wa kati. Ziko kwenye mikono yake. Kila mkono una mfumo wake tata wa neva. Kila mkono unaweza kutatua matatizo rahisi peke yake. Ubongo wa kati hutoa nia ya juu. Mikono inajadili maelezo.

This was not a metaphor. Chiara explained, while it was happening: an octopus has about five hundred million neurons. Two thirds of them are not in its central brain. They are in its arms. Each arm has its own complex nervous system. Each arm can solve simple problems on its own. The central brain provides high-level intention. The arms negotiate the details.

Polly aliruka kando ya ukingo wa tanki kufuatilia. Mkono wa kwanza ulipenya kwenye korido ya njia. Uligonga kona ya kwanza, ukasimama, ukahisi, na kugeuka. Uligonga kona ya pili. Mwili wa Pasta bado haujahama kutoka kona yake. Mkono wa pili, ule uliokuwa ukichunguza juu, ulipata lango dogo kwenye chumba na kujaribu kingo zake. Ulisukuma mara moja. Lango likafunguka kidogo.

Polly hopped along the tank rim to keep up. The first arm threaded the corridor of the maze. It hit the first turn, paused, felt, and turned. It hit the second turn. Pasta's body had still not moved from her corner. The second arm, the one exploring the top, found the small gate at the chamber and tested its edges. It pushed once. The gate gave a little.

Mkono wa kwanza ulifika kwenye lango kutoka ndani ya njia. Ulisukuma kwa upande mwingine. Lango likafunguka.

The first arm reached the gate from inside the maze. It pushed in the opposite direction. The gate opened.

Mkono ukachukua nyama ya kaa.

The arm took the crab meat.

Mabadilishano hayo yote yalichukua labda sekunde thelathini. Pasta hakuwa amehama mwili wake mkuu hata mara moja.

The whole exchange had taken perhaps thirty seconds. Pasta had not moved her main body once.

Chiara, akitazama skrini ya video yake, alipumua polepole. "Hii ndiyo sehemu ambayo bado hatuelewi," alisema. "Mikono ilipata chakula. Je, pweza alitatua njia? Au mikono miwili ilitatua pamoja, wakati ubongo wa kati ulifanya kitu kingine kabisa? Hatuelewi. Kuna hoja kwa pande zote mbili. Mimi nalipwa, kimsingi, kubishana kuhusu hilo."

Chiara, watching her video screen, exhaled slowly. "This is the part we still do not understand," she said. "The arms got the food. Did the octopus solve the maze? Or did the two arms solve it together, while the central brain did something else entirely? We do not know. There are arguments for both. I am paid, basically, to argue about it."

Polly alimwangalia Pasta. Pweza sasa alikuwa akivuta mwili wake polepole, kama paka. Mikono yote minane ilikusanyika pamoja, na ikavuta nyama ya kaa kwenye mdomo. Njia, ikiwa tupu, ilikaa kwenye sakafu ya tanki.

Polly looked at Pasta. The octopus was now stretching her body slowly, the way a cat might. The eight arms gathered together, and pulled the crab meat to the beak. The maze, empty, sat on the tank floor.

Kuna msemo ambao wanasayansi hutumia wanaposhindwa kumweka kiumbe katika makundi waliyokuwa nayo kabla ya kukutana naye. Msemo huo ni "akili ya kigeni." Polly alikuwa ameusikia kwenye video za mihadhara. Alidhani ulikuwa wa kishairi. Leo, akitazama mikono miwili ikifanya kazi kwenye njia bila kushauriana, alibadilisha mawazo yake. Inaweza kuwa halisi.

There is a phrase scientists use when they cannot fit a creature into the categories they had before they met it. The phrase is "alien intelligence." Polly had heard it in lecture videos. She had thought it was poetic. Today, watching two arms work a maze without consulting each other, she revised her thinking. It might be literal.

Chiara alipakia kamera. "Nina mkutano wa chakula cha mchana," alisema. "Wewe baki. Anapenda kuwa na kampani."

Chiara packed up the camera. "I have a lunch meeting," she said. "You stay. She likes the company."

Polly alibaki. Pasta alirudi kwenye bomba lake. Mwanga wa mchana kupitia madirisha ulibadilika polepole kutoka buluu-kijivu hadi dhahabu. Pweza, mara kwa mara, alifungua jicho moja na kumtazama.

Polly stayed. Pasta returned to her pipe. The afternoon light through the windows changed slowly from blue-grey to gold. The octopus, occasionally, opened one eye and looked at her.

Polly hakusema chochote. Pweza, wazi kabisa, hakuwa akisubiri kuzungumzwa.

Polly did not say anything. The octopus, very obviously, was not waiting to be talked to.