We only THINK we have the highest level of consciousness. OCTOPUS might very well THINK it is at the highest peek... and rightly so.
We (human) ONLY observe and interact with environment through limited sensory. Patterns in mathematics are numbers. OCTOPUS realizes and IN REAL TIME interacts with HIGHLY COMPLEX patterns in its environment.
It takes a very high level of cerebral ability to achieve that. Both as a self aware entity and as a life form highly connected to the greater system.