Well, we don't have to imagine. The University of Heidelberg warned this week that the belief that plants do things we commonly associate with animals is straying beyond the science:
Plants are often attributed with abilities similar to those known in the animal or human world. Trees are said to have feelings and can purportedly care for their offspring, like mothers. In an article in the review journal Trends in Plant Science, 32 international plant and forest researchers followed up on such assertions.Not Only in Popular Literature
Led by Prof. David G. Robinson, professor emeritus for cell biology at the Center for Organismal Studies (COS) of Heidelberg University, the researchers analyzed the claims in two popular publications on forests and reached the conclusion that conjecture is equated with fact. They warn against "anthropomorphizing" plants.
Heidelbert University, "'Do not anthropromorphize plants,' say plant and forest researchers,"
— September 30, 2023, PhysOrg.
(The paper "Mother trees, altruistic fungi, and the perils of plant personification," requires a subscription)
But such claims are not made only in popular literature. Professor Robinson and some of his colleagues have expressed concern on this topic before.
In 2020, EMBO Reports published a paper by Frantisek Baluška and colleagues titled "Plants, climate and humans: Plant intelligence changes everything." From the paper's Abstract:
However, over the past decades, plant science has revealed that higher plants are much more than just passive carbon-fixing entities. They possess a plant-specific intelligence, with which they manipulate both their abiotic and biotic environment, including climate patterns and whole ecosystems. Considering plants as active and intelligent agents has therefore profound consequences not just for future climate scenarios but also for understanding mankind's role and position within the Earth's biosphere.Robinson et al. were skeptical of the claims about "plant-specific intelligence" and wrote EMBO Reports to say,
BALUŠKA F, MANCUSO S. PLANTS, CLIMATE AND HUMANS: PLANT INTELLIGENCE CHANGES EVERYTHING. EMBO REP. 2020 MAR 4;21(3):E50109. DOI: 10.15252/EMBR.202050109. EPUB 2020 FEB 27. PMID: 32103598; PMCID: PMC7054678.
Plant "intelligence" changes nothingAnd Baluška and a colleague responded,
Attempts to humanize plants may be in line with current trends towards rampant anthropomorphism in biology, but paint a highly distorted picture of plant life. The present article in EMBO Reports adds an extra dimension to the apparent cognitive and social abilities of plants: sentences like "A new view of higher plants as cognitive and intelligent organisms that actively manipulate their environment to serve their needs" and "Humans are not excluded from plants' manipulative behaviour..." appeal to psychological and neurobiological concepts of social cognition without providing empirical basis for such a far-reaching proposal.
Plants are alive: with all behavioural and cognitive consequencesIncidentally, Frantisek Baluška is part of the Third Way of Evolution group, which seeks to look beyond Darwinian natural selection in order to understand evolution. That may be an underlying source of tension because Robinson et al. stress in their critical letter that "Most ecologists understand that 'ecological strategy' is a misleading teleological shorthand for evolved adaptive behaviour determined by natural selection."
We have always been well disposed towards criticisms — by studying cognition in plants we expect it — but we do not believe that dogmatic attitudes can be helpful for science to progress. If Robinson et al want to continue their claim that 85% of Earth biomass (plants) is made up of organic semi-living machines and that intelligence is a gift belonging only to 0.3% of life (animals), they are obviously free to believe it, but they should support their claims with scientific evidence.
Can Darwinism Withstand Panpsychism?
An underlying issue is, of course, the fact that the Darwinian concept of nature does not credit even humans with having actual intelligence. We merely have "evolved adaptive behaviour determined by natural selection." In other words, natural selection acting on random mutations (Darwinism) is thought to account for abstract mathematics, the Louvre, and all spiritual teachings, on the theory that they enable their creators and admirers to spread their selfish genes.
Of course it may be untenable that plants plan or think. But, honestly, Darwinism is untenable too. Will this controversy become a war of untenables?
Meanwhile, pop science media like the new approach to plants. Consider this from ZME Science:
Researchers from Tel Aviv University (TAU) have recorded high-pitched airborne noises emitted by water-stressed plants. The noises could be interpreted as an indication that plants cry out for help (please water me!), much like a distressed animal would.ZME Science asks the inevitable question: "Plants can't have emotions — or can they?" The researchers said they "cannot say with certainty."
In their study, the researchers suggest that whenever a plant is cut, suffers from an infection, or is under stress from water deprivation, it repeatedly emits a click sound. Humans are not able to hear these clicks because their frequency is above the audible range (40 to 80 KHz, whereas humans can hear sounds only up to 20 KHz).
RUPENDRA BRAHAMBHATT, "PLANTS 'SCREAM' UNDER STRESS. HERE IS HOW YOU CAN HEAR THEM," AME SCIENCE, SEPTEMBER 26, 2023 (The paper is open access.)
Darwinians may be the ones who need to learn how to "adapt" to this new environment where panpsychism is increasingly an underlying assumption in science and science writing.
Reader Comments
The irony is that plants were used to debunk polygraphs as pseudoscience, but ended up proving plants communicate instead.
Peace to you!
Ken
Plants live on Earth as we do, the morality of survival is one that has now taken a nefarious twist. There's some who'd question one for just living, one needs to eat.
The journey of germination, growth and produce being realised involves a nurturing hand and I'm sure one does one's best, so enjoy one's rewards and celebrate.
👍
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Thanks for those kind words of encouragement and this year I will have a plan to deal with the inevitable aphids that killed the ghost I tried to save last year and slowed up this year's pepper crop. Lesson learned on my end.
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Best to you and you are no longer Suspect in my book (as if you ever were!)...
(ha, ha)
Ken
I'm becoming a better pepper picker this year especially I reckon!
Ken
For aphids I use very light soapy water and works well, but I have also found that often times nature will resolve itself. For the case of aphids I have found myself to nearly intervene and then have a look and the lady bugs are feasting on them. This year I had an outbreak of caterpillars on the tomatoes and I had almost sprayed with poison and the birds had found them and nearly wiped them out! Of course that's not always the case. Intervention is often times necessary, but the best is strong healthy plants that are able to withstand a degree of damage and pest pressure IMO.
Sad time of year for the garden though, it isn't so bright, vibrant, and productive.. a kind of death but that's the nature of it. Although this far south we are still able to have a fall/ winter crop. Collards mustard carrots etc. The cool weather types.
As for Peppers, I used to grow them and a variety of HOT 🌶 too. To ensure a good crop they'd be germinated indoors in our conservatory and planted into 8 inch pots when ready.
They never went out doors, too damp and cold here in Yorkshire They lived their lives out on the kitchen windowsills enjoying my singing and love for music.
I always got a rewarding crop that my Partner would turn into Jams etc, etc.
I didn't grow anything this year as I knew I'll health would prevent such a thing, in stead I enjoyed the company of the 🐸 's in my pond, they reckonised my voice strangely enough and would start chattering away when I sat outside.
We had our first frost this morning so I've got some work to do today. Had a good last harvest from only 4 plants, and I'm not going to bother overwintering the hungarian wax peppers because I think I want new plants next year with a teeny bit more heat for pickling.
I do have heat mats, but for those the issue is lack of outlets in both the garage and the bathroom (1 outlet in each).
I've saved 3 pepper plants this season from the garden direct in which I think in total I planted about 25 pepper plants after growing them indoors. Here is some additional detail:
I saved the ghost pepper plant mainly because I wanted to give the peppers time to properly ripen. So far even though most of the leaves on this decent sized plant with about ~50 ghost peppers on it have begun to wilt....I think some new growth is coming in as evidenced by the emergence of very small leaves near the bottom of the stem. I suspect all of the leaves that were on the plant prior to transfer will fall off, but I think this plant may still be alive and meanwhile the ghost have begun to change in color...there are some orangish ones now....and I'm waiting for "RED" and I'll save the seeds from a few red ones, and if they grow next season, they will be the 3rd Generation .
I saved a cayenne plant that was in my "peppa harvest" pile, because it was small, still looked ok after having been out of the ground and I just put it is a vase with water and nothing more -- I don't think this plant is going to live, but it looked pretty good before I had to depart.
I think my "favorite" plant this year though was a hybrid pepper that is either cayenne-banana or possible cayenne-jalapeño . This plant just "showed up" so speak, but it was from a seed from last year's garden. This plant produced beautiful essentially unblemished, long but stout, deep red peppers that for me tasted like " peppa heaven " when I tasted the tips with an ideal combination of sweetness, moderate heat-fulness, and crispy delicious for my palate. This plant will likely lose its leaves as well, but it has held up much better versus how the ghost pepper plant appears.
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What I need to do next, is get a "greenhouse tent" and this year I will purchase some lady bugs to hopefully keep the aphids in check. I already have numerous grow lights and other items necessary.
I want to save seeds from my actual plants year-after-year if possible, because I believe over time the peppers I get this way will be more "acclimated" to my garden. My nephew, surprised me by coming over and leaving with me some peppers I have never even heard of...for example: there was a " Fat White Scorpion ", " Fatalii ", " Golden Primatalli " amongst others including Scotch Bonnet and Carolina Reaper and Purple Scorpion....I ate a decent sized Scotch Bonnet (or tried to in one bite ) - had to spit it out due to sudden surge of HOT but it was still good later when I had it with a meal proper and the heat was buffered from when I spit it out I reckon. I've saved seeds from these group of peppas my nephew delivered unexpected as well, and I'm looking forward and planning ahead for next season.
This year coupled with the peppers I used most of our tomatoes to make a salsa that is to die for! My neighbor shared with me the recipe and bless her for that - cilantro is an essential ingredient - stems and all. Learning about jarring and vacuum sealing was also most worthwhile this season.
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Peace,
Ken
Best to you pepper pal!
Ken
Well, the skin is sweet and not hot at all! I thought maybe I'd gotten a bad hybrid like the time my pepper buddy coworker grew jalapeños next to green bells and NONE of his jalapeños had any heat. I don't know about you, but imo, heat is the ONLY thing jalapeños have going for them.
Anyway, I sliced a bigger piece, this time getting a seed, some pith, and some oils. The scotch bonnets are not duds AT ALL. I dried my first harvest and I've got a couple handfuls more fresh right now that I better dry because even if I ate one a day, they would rot before I got through them all, and my colon would not be happy with me.
Cheers!
Best to you,
Ken
I remember a long time ago on Sott where you chimed in regarding some sort of pepper talk that got going when the talk was "free-flowing", and since then growing peppers I'm pretty sure is going to be the focus for me going forward and I think I already knew that is what I wanted to do then. I know even more now.
Peace Brother!
Ken
Thanks.
Ken
A Russian scientist not honored in the West is Vernadsky and his book The Biosphere. He correctly notes that the biosphere interacts with the earth and affects the earth. Everything is connected.
The article needs to address its focus, as humans are by nature, anything but superior within Earth's landscape.
Nature is nurturing and protective. Outside influences past our mesosphere that major Earth changes began to sync with major cycles that traverses our solar system orbits. Earth or Nature is under more laws than human beings in that it's freedom of thought has to include the cosmos forces. Nature transforms those energy as it can as a result living creatures and humans experience cataclysmic changes, abnormal weathering and periodic periods of calm. It is the nature of reality that is of the hyperdimensional thought plane.