Consciousness and cognition in plants (original) (raw)
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Debunking a myth: plant consciousness
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Claims that plants have conscious experiences have increased in recent years and have received wide coverage, from the popular media to scientific journals. Such claims are misleading and have the potential to misdirect funding and governmental policy decisions. After defining basic, primary consciousness, we provide new arguments against 12 core claims made by the proponents of plant consciousness. Three important new conclusions of our study are (1) plants have not been shown to perform the proactive, anticipatory behaviors associated with consciousness, but only to sense and follow stimulus trails reactively; (2) electrophysiological signaling in plants serves immediate physiological functions rather than integrative-information processing as in nervous systems of animals, giving no indication of plant consciousness; (3) the controversial claim of classical Pavlovian learning in plants, even if correct, is irrelevant because this type of learning does not require consciousness. F...
Why studying plant cognition is valuable, even if plants aren’t cognitive
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Philosophers and scientists propose the idea that plants are cognitive, which has been met with criticisms. These criticisms focus on the fact that plants do not possess the properties traditionally associated with cognition. By contrast, several proponents introduce novel ways to conceptualize cognition. How should we make sense of this debate? In this paper, I argue that the plant cognition debate is not about whether plants meet a set of well-delineated and agreed-upon criteria according to which they count as cognitive. Rather, many proponents are hypothesizing about cognition. They construe COGNITION not as an expression of what cognition is, but rather as a conjecture about what cognition might be. These conjectures orient research that can uncover novel similarities amongst the phenomena to which these concepts extend. In defending this view, I argue that investigating plant cognition is valuable, even if the results of these investigations lead us to reject the claim that pl...
… interactions: from sensory plant biology to …, 2009
We discuss the possibility and the meaning of the claim that plants are cognitive from the perspective of Embodied Cognition. In Embodied Cognition, the notion of cognition can be interpreted very broad and applies to many free-moving creatures. In this chapter, we discuss whether and, if so, how this approach applies to intelligence in plants. Building on work from 'plant neurobiology,' we discuss the differences in speed between plants and animals, similarities between sensory-driven plant growth and animal memory, and the presence of offline behavior in plants. In our view, these examples show that under a wide, embodied interpretation of cognition, plants may well qualify as representatives.
Are plants cognitive? A reply to Adams
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (Part A), 2019
According to F. Adams [this journal, vol. 68, 2018] cognition cannot be realized in plants or bacteria. In his view, plants and bacteria respond to the here-and-now in a hardwired, inflexible manner, and are therefore incapable of cognitive activity. This article takes issue with the pursuit of plant cognition from the perspective of an empirically informed philosophy of plant neurobiology. As we argue, empirical evidence shows, contra Adams, that plant behavior is in many ways analogous to animal behavior. This renders plants
Journal of Consciousness Studies (vol. 4, no. 3), 1997
Views of 'plant consciousness' in the literature are classified on a scale ranging from descriptions of plant phenomena using consciousness as a metaphor, to explicit statements that plants are conscious beings. The idea of plant consciousness is far from new, but it has received a new impetus from recent claims by psychics to communicate with plants. The literature surveyed is widely scattered and very diverse, but it can teach us much about the views that various segments of society hold on plant consciousness.
In a green frame of mind: perspectives on the behavioural ecology and cognitive nature of plants
AoB PLANTS, 2014
It is increasingly recognized that plants are highly sensitive organisms that perceive, assess, learn, remember, resolve problems, make decisions and communicate with each other by actively acquiring information from their environment. However, the fact that many of the sophisticated behaviours plants exhibit reveal cognitive competences, which are generally attributed to humans and some non-human animals, has remained unappreciated.
Plants Neither Possess nor Require Consciousness
Trends in Plant Science, 2019
Although 'plant neurobiologists' have claimed that plants possess many of the same mental features as animals, such as consciousness, cognition, intentionality, emotions, and the ability to feel pain, the evidence for these abilities in plants is highly problematical. Proponents of plant consciousness have consistently glossed over the unique and remarkable degree of structural, organizational, and functional complexity that the animal brain had to evolve before consciousness could emerge. Recent results of neuroscientist Todd E. Feinberg and evolutionary biologist Jon M. Mallatt on the minimum brain structures and functions required for consciousness in animals have implications for plants. Their findings make it extremely unlikely that plants, lacking any anatomical structures remotely comparable to the complexity of the threshold brain, possess consciousness.
Plant Neurobiology Can Prove Plant Consciousness. -Elizabeth MacLeod
Consciousness is dependent on sentience. What are the criteria for the state of being sentient? It has been defined as “... the basic ability of organisms to perceive and thereby respond to selected features of their environments, thus making them conscious or aware of those features.” (Schneider p. 58) If a being is sentient, does that mean that being is divine? If divinity includes everything everywhere, can we also say that everything everywhere deserves the dignity of human acknowledgement? “Why is there such a discrepancy between treatment of human life, and treatment of all other life forms.” (Kimmerer, L p. 1) What if true equality for all included plant-life as well as animal-life justice? There is a great debate in the scientific community creating tidal waves in our usual thought patterns. It is similar in scale of the great debate of the 70’s spearheaded by Carl Sagan addressing “Are we alone in the Universe?” It is the exciting idea of plant-life agency.