Cabbages talk to each other and warn each other when attacked

[Jetsun]

I just watched this programme on the tv how plants emit gasses when one of their leaves are attacked so they warn each other and communicate that a predator is about.

 

One cabbage plant had a leaf cut off with scissors and started emitting a gas – methyl jasmonate – thereby ‘telling’ its neighbours there may be trouble ahead.

 

Two nearby cabbage plants, which had not been touched, received the message they should protect themselves. They did this by producing toxic chemicals on the leaves to fend off predators such as caterpillars.

It is the first time such a process has been caught on camera. Scientists say it raises the possibility that plants are all communicating with each other in a complex ‘invisible language’ which we know nothing about.

 

Professor Stewart, who saw the experiment at Exeter University, said: ‘The gas triggered a change in the biological activity in the two neighbouring plants. They detected the message warning them to protect themselves.

‘It’s fascinating to realise that there could be a constant chatter going on between different plants, that they can in some way sense chemically what is happening to others, like a hidden language which could be going on all around us.

‘Most people assume that plants lead a rather passive life, but in reality they move and sense and communicate. It’s almost like they show a kind of intelligence.’

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2096302/Prince-Charles-right-plants-really-communicate-another.html#ixzz1locYnPSE

 

 

I always thought plants were more intelligent than most people give them credit for. I don't think I will look at a cabbage in the same way again.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Jetsun

[Protector]

Just like in my short story... we're eating them... then they're going to eat us... oh my goooooooooooooood

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

The cabbage need neither fear nor eat me, as i neither fear nor eat cabbage!

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Ha. One more step towards science catching up with ancient knowledge. People have been listening to plants for 1000's of years. Eventually they will discover how the human body can sense the change that these chemicals make in itself, providing positive and negative responses.

[Marblehead]

I always thought plants were more intelligent than most people.

 

I would have completed the sentence right there.

[Jetsun]

Ha. One more step towards science catching up with ancient knowledge. People have been listening to plants for 1000's of years. Eventually they will discover how the human body can sense the change that these chemicals make in itself, providing positive and negative responses.

 

Yeah, there are Shaman of the Amazon who can talk to plants to find the exact plant in the entire rain forest that a sick person needs for their cure, yet apparently science has only examined about 5% of the tropical forest plant species for their chemical compounds and medicinal value, so it still has a long way to catch up.

[zerostao]

I've heard trees have been documented communicating too.

 

 

trees are easy to communicate with. i dont have any documentation but anyone is welcome to stroll thru the forest or grove

and check it out. forest guide is one of those things i do for free/fun.

[RyanO]

I've always wondered why (some) vegetarians think its perfectly ok to kill and eat plants but not animals.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

(size=50)(/size)

[Protector]

Plants should eat only vegetarians, that would confuse them

[RyanO]

Plants should eat only vegetarians, that would confuse them

 

Haha, I've always been fascinated by carnivorous plants:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivorous_plant

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

In spore, i made omnivorous tree-people... guess that makes them cannibals of sorts?

 

I'd pay to watch a vegan get swallowed by clear soup

 

Uh...

 

That has everything to do with this thread, yes?

[konchog uma]

I've always wondered why (some) vegetarians think its perfectly ok to kill and eat plants but not animals.

 

probably the lack of nerve cells and CNS

 

i think plants get sad but i don't think they feel pain in the same way as animals

[mantis]

Not going to keep me from eating kimchi.

 

[RyanO]

probably the lack of nerve cells and CNS

 

i think plants get sad but i don't think they feel pain in the same way as animals

 

Hmm I think an emotion like sadness requires a CNS, and a pretty developed one at that. I remember hearing that some people eat fish for instance because although they have a CNS, they don't have emotions which are necessary to process 'pain'. Without emotions 'pain' is just a reaction, similar to plant behavior.

 

So yeah I do understand the argument based on sophistication of consciousness, in which case harming higher order beings is more of a problem than 'lower' beings. But where is the distinction drawn? And to use Buddhist language, what qualifies as a 'sentient' being?

[Protector]

[Birch]

This could send the thread pit-bound but I thought it was interesting - OT

 

[zerostao]

This could send the thread pit-bound but I thought it was interesting - OT

 

 

 

look how much absinthe they are drinking! alot of strange realities will happen with that much absinthe.

[Mokona]

Awesome! Best post!

[Dainin]

Many years ago, I saw a show on PBS that looked at the world of plants using time-lapsed film, taken over long periods of time. The complexity of what was going on was amazing (battles, migrations, etc.) but because it was occurring at a much slower speed than we humans can normally perceive, we are oblivious to it (except maybe for certain shamans, etc). Does anyone happen to remember the name of this show?

 

PS: Seasons don't fear the cabbage...nor do the wind, the sun or the rain!

[zerostao]

I meant trees communicating with other trees. Humans, yeah, I know some are better than others in communicating with trees.

 

 

yep trees communicate with trees.

 

i was thinking again about the absinthe. with all of those herbs blended together alot of communicating gonna be going on with that.

[suninmyeyes]

Many years ago, I saw a show on PBS that looked at the world of plants using time-lapsed film, taken over long periods of time. The complexity of what was going on was amazing (battles, migrations, etc.) but because it was occurring at a much slower speed than we humans can normally perceive, we are oblivious to it (except maybe for certain shamans, etc). Does anyone happen to remember the name of this show?

 

Is it The Secret Life of Plants?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8kO5AF-lj4

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

Is it The Secret Life of Plants?

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=M8kO5AF-lj4

 

 

... part 1 of 11

 

At what point do they get to the time-lapses?

[konchog uma]

Hmm I think an emotion like sadness requires a CNS, and a pretty developed one at that. I remember hearing that some people eat fish for instance because although they have a CNS, they don't have emotions which are necessary to process 'pain'. Without emotions 'pain' is just a reaction, similar to plant behavior.

 

So yeah I do understand the argument based on sophistication of consciousness, in which case harming higher order beings is more of a problem than 'lower' beings. But where is the distinction drawn? And to use Buddhist language, what qualifies as a 'sentient' being?

 

i just noticed that i missed that post.. so four months later...

 

i think consciousness and spirit can take forms and be sad and have nothing to do with nerve cells and neurons and a CNS. I have encountered very sad spirits. But that, for many who do not and have never encountered a spirit, presupposes the existance of noncorporeal beings, which i understand is a stretch for some, and takes the conversation to a different dimension entirely. So take that or leave it.

 

That being said, i don't think sadness requires a CNS. I think plants get sad. I think that thinking that the whole phenomenon of emotional intelligence rests on a brain and CNS is anthropocentric. I think life is stranger and more complex than that.

 

And as far as fish go, pain is pain, whether one gets sad about it or not. So i don't really see how that point relates directly to what we are talking about. Maybe people think fish have no emotions because they don't have eyebrows lol neither do chickens and people love to eat them too. I dunno could be more anthropocentrism!

 

In the end, i only have my suspicions based on my limited range of interaction with plants, animals, and spirits. But that being what it is, i don't think a CNS has much to do with consciousness. Maybe the mind is different from the brain and doesn't rest on the existance of grey/white matter. I think the brain is the interface between the mind and the body, in other words, our minds have an awareness or a thought, and it is filtered through the brain to send the electrical impulses to our, hands for example, or anywhere. There are a lot of different theories though, so i am open to the possibility of being wrong lol

[Rokazulu]

I've always wondered why (some) vegetarians think its perfectly ok to kill and eat plants but not animals.

 

Eh, plants scream less when you chop them up.