That would certainly be a good way to maximize food output, but I think that in order to successfully do that well enough to fool even researchers looking for it, the octopus would have to have at least enough complexity in it's brain to actually be conscious.

I suspect that octopi are more-or-less as conscious as dolphins are, as a rough approximation.

or it could be that we've just retroactively defined "consciousness" as the thing humans do when they try to fake consciousness. :p

I'm not sure it's possible to confirm or deny that question without being able to define, once and for all, exactly and precisely what consciousness is.