Rafe Sagarin: Learning from the Octopus

Despite the billions of dollars that have poured into wars, homeland security and disaster response, are we fundamentally no better prepared for the next terrorist attack or unprecedented flood than we were in 2001?

Our response to catastrophes remains unchanged: add another step to airport security, another meter to the levee wall. Military leaders, public health officials and business professionals would all like to be more adaptable, but few have figured out how.

Sagarin argues that we can learn from observing how nature is organized, how organisms learn, how they create partnerships, and how life continually diversifies on this unpredictable planet.