Can Plants Think?

[Tartarga]

Search bar approved.

According to a study done by a polish biologist plants are able to remember and respond to information.

Spoiler

In the study, which was published in the early online version of the journal Plant Cell July 16, the researchers found that light shone on one leaf of an Arabidopsis thaliana plant caused the whole plant to respond. The response lasted even after the light source was taken away, suggesting the plant remembered the light input.

"The signaling continiues after the light is off; it is building short-term memory," said the lead author, Stanislaw Karpinski, in an e-mail message. "The leaves are able to physiologically 'memorize' different excess light episodes and use this stored information, for example, for improving their acclimation and immune defenses."

The leaves remember light quality as well as quantity, Karpinski added -- different wavelengths of light produce a different response, suggesting the plants use the information to generate protective chemical reactions like pathogen defense or food production.

Here is the full article.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-07/study-unveils-plant-nervous-system-illuminating-how-plants-remember-and-react

What do you have to say about this my fellow Escapians?

 

[Nossy]

I think every living thing can remember stuff.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

This is very useful information. I should remember this when I'm making my giant mutant Venus fly traps

 

[Neonbob]

That's rather interesting. If it's true, that would make burning plants so much more satisfying.
Though I'd be a little wary of a plants rights group popping up if it is ever chosen.
Still, I do have to admit it would be hilarious to see them protesting a vegetarian restaurant.

 

[Dags90]

Responding to stimuli and and recording past information for future use is a far cry from what most people consider "thinking." Individual cells are capable of these things and we don't consider them to be cognizant.

 

[MONSTERheart]

I don't think so. This reaction to sunlight seems to be more of a passive system (like breathing, heart function, etc) rather than an active one. I'd say a better word is "adapting" rather than "thinking".

 

[Sougo]

If plants could think, they'd make a better effort to rid the world of its greatest pestilence .... namely, humans.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

Well, I don't know that I'd go so far as to qualify that as "thinking." I generally consider thinking to be reserved only for conscious entities. Still, I grow a lot of plants in my appartment, and the truth is that they have a lot of amazing traits, more than most people realize. They're fascinating entities when you really look into it, so this actually doesn't surprise me too much.

 

[grimsprice]

If plants could think, they'd make a better effort to rid the world of its greatest pestilence .... namely, humans.

That sounds like the plot for a crazy strait to dvd sci-fi movie. Maybe we could get some weird director to make it creepy. M night maybe?

OT: Does it have synaptic pathways? Then no, its not thinking.

The tar in asphalt burns away to rock when it is exposed to salt air. Is the slab trying to protect itself by exposing the rocky parts of its makeup? No. Chemical responses to changing environment are what complex chemicals do. Not thought.

 

[DTI]

Yes! Plants can think! However watch out! The plants are far more intelligent than ourselves! They are planning a war against out species and the only way to prevent it is to deforest all the nations forests!

 

[TK421]

No, plants do not think.

That's not thinking. It's just responding to environmental stimulants. It probably remembers the reactions ona cellular level. So it would be better to say. 'Do plant cell's think?' The answer would still be no, but flora cell's are a lot more advanced than fauna cells.

I agree with this.

 

[glodud]

they are not thinking they are remembering, a computer can also make decisions based on circumstances, doesn't mean it's sentient

 

[HT_Black]

I...I just don't understand. I'm sorry, but I really don't get it. I gotta go sit down, or maybe talk to a trained botanist.

 

[ShadowKatt]

Plants do not "think". They have no brain, nor any type of nervous system. Cells to have a type of genetic memory built in though, that tells them how to grow, what to do to live, etc, but plants are not capable of active, conscious, decision-making thought.

 

[TheTaco007]

That isn't thinking. That's like muscle memory.