About

“The Naked Mind” is a term borrowed from the writer Terence McKenna to describe the octopus’s peculiar visual expressivity of thoughts and feelings via their coloring, texture and movements. Should they wish their thoughts or feelings to remain private, they “ink” the water to conceal this information. McKenna referred to them as having a Naked Mind. Unlike octopi, our thoughts are concealed by facial control, our feelings by numbing our bodies. We also mask our thoughts and feelings from ourselves, but why exactly?

The answer lies in the human psyche, which is often fractured by trauma, and …