Plants Are More Sentient Than We Knew...

[ehbowen]

A Quiet Revolution in Botany: Plants Form Memories


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In studies of animals such as bees, a memory that sticks for 24 hours is considered long-term. Gagliano wasn’t expecting the plants to keep hold of the training days later. “Then I went back six days later, and did it again, thinking surely now they forgot,” she says. “Instead, they remembered, exactly as if they had just received the training.”

She waited a month and dropped them again. Their leaves stayed open. According to the rules that scientists routinely apply to animals, the mimosa plants had demonstrated that they could learn.

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[Kylara]

A Quiet Revolution in Botany: Plants Form Memories


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Fascinating.  It's been my experience that the further away from human a being is, the harder a time many people have in thinking it can have human like features:  thoughts, emotions, memory.  Plants are so different, it is hard for a lot of people to wrap their heads around the idea of them being more than 'just' a plant.

[Hariti]

Plants are so different, it is hard for a lot of people to wrap their heads around the idea of them being more than 'just' a plant.

I am personally not adverse to the idea of plants having some form of consciousness. In fact, there's quite a bit of Hindu philosophy that makes me think it's possible that something like that might be the case.

My issue, though—is how?

There is no scientifically understood mechanism for plants to think, learn, or know things. They lack a brain and a central nervous system. If they are able to learn, how in the heck are they doing it? Not trying to be a skeptic or to argue with what's been observed, just raising the question.

I feel like, if there's real concrete evidence for plants learning things, then finding the mechanism behind that learning should be a priority for biologists. Whatever is allowing them to do so is currently not understood, and figuring it our could be the key to understanding other elements of biology.

[Anon100]

I am personally not adverse to the idea of plants having some form of consciousness. In fact, there's quite a bit of Hindu philosophy that makes me think it's possible that something like that might be the case.

My issue, though—is how?

There is no scientifically understood mechanism for plants to think, learn, or know things. They lack a brain and a central nervous system. If they are able to learn, how in the heck are they doing it? Not trying to be a skeptic or to argue with what's been observed, just raising the question.

I feel like, if there's real concrete evidence for plants learning things, then finding the mechanism behind that learning should be a priority for biologists. Whatever is allowing them to do so is currently not understood, and figuring it our could be the key to understanding other elements of biology.

I watched a programme once where they were explaining that octopii have 'brains' in their tentacles as well as their main brain. I can't see why plants can't have some form of decentralized thinking system rather than a cluster/core brain.

I certainly like the idea of plants thinking and can see it being possible, however, being a gardener, I kind of have to put aside the thoughts of a plant having memories/feelings a lot otherwise I wouldn't be able to work.

[Hariti]

I can't see why plants can't have some form of decentralized thinking system rather than a cluster/core brain.

Well, they certainly could—but then why hasn't any such structure been observed by biologists? Plants don't have a nervous system at all, as far as we know, centralized or otherwise.

Also, a decentralized nervous system would be highly unlikely to allow any kind of higher though; the brain is centralized in almost all animals because it's more efficient that way, and in animals where it's not centralized (ie: Starfish), the animals tend to be less intelligent as a result.

EDIT to clarify: The point of this post is simply to say, there's no clear mechanism though which plants could think. If they are indeed thinking, it's nothing as simple as them just having a decentralized nervous system, because we would know if they had one.

[Sefiru]

I watched a programme once where they were explaining that octopii have 'brains' in their tentacles as well as their main brain. I can't see why plants can't have some form of decentralized thinking system rather than a cluster/core brain.

The trouble is that plants don't even have identifiable *nerves.* Plants that react quickly to anything (the mimosa in the article, venus flytraps) do so by mechanical/water pressure.

I suspect the reason why the mimosa plants in the article 'remembered' the stimulus for so long is similar to a faucet 'remembering' that it's been fixed - there was a physical change to the parts that make the leaves fold and reopen. (I wonder if leaves that grew after the 'training' also exhibit the 'learned' reaction, or not).

It's not exactly news that plants can keep track of the seasons; some species of bamboo can even count years. Whether this counts as 'thinking' is another question.

[ehbowen]

The trouble is that plants don't even have identifiable *nerves.* Plants that react quickly to anything (the mimosa in the article, venus flytraps) do so by mechanical/water pressure.

I suspect the reason why the mimosa plants in the article 'remembered' the stimulus for so long is similar to a faucet 'remembering' that it's been fixed - there was a physical change to the parts that make the leaves fold and reopen. (I wonder if leaves that grew after the 'training' also exhibit the 'learned' reaction, or not).

It's not exactly news that plants can keep track of the seasons; some species of bamboo can even count years. Whether this counts as 'thinking' is another question.

And yet, and yet...

Both 'our way' (nervous system, cerebrum, trained reflexes) and the mimosa plants' way of learning (mechanical or otherwise) may seem equally strange to a purely spiritual/nonincorporeal being such as an angel (and vice versa). Yet, all seem to work for the purposes of adapting to environment and conditions.