Trees Are Conscious

Bumpity bump

Bump

That's fascinating Shandy3
Bump.

Largest organism on our planet is 'mycorrhizal' which us like a highway, a telegraph line, that the trees communicate through and other fungi, etc grow from
Clever planet, it will do well for a time after our passing!

Caleo

Mollygo wrote:

"I remember being told that grass being mown sends anguished messages."

I think this is held to be true by scientists. Would you say a feeling such as anguish is a sign of being alive not dead , and a natural being not a computer?

I can accept/believe that vegetation sends out signals in some circumstances, but really can't see how even scientists can prove that this is 'anguish' as such. What purpose would that even serve for something that is quite literally rooted to the spot?

Signals that might stimulate re-growth or the production of chemicals that could repel some of the creatures doing the damage would make sense, but anguish in the commonly-acccepted sense of the word when used in relation to animals? Personally, I doubt it.

yogitree

I read a wonderful book about this and although it was fiction, much of the 'science' is believable (if you're me and a pagan).

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I love trees and plants and talk to all of mine, also welcoming new ones into the garden. I reckon my neighbours think I'm nuts but I don't care. To each their own!

yogitree - Overstory is a wondeful book. One of those stories that stays with you long after you finish reading. It took me a while to read and I had to read other books every few chapters as I got so involved and so upset by our treatment of trees/nature. This has made me decide to read it again - I'm sure I will learn more than before. A very important book.

pascal30

Maybe read The Hidden Life of Trees... which shows that when tress are harmed they send out electrical signals almost like wounded human tissue, they can react to drought by retaining water within the tree and they communicate with other trees deep underground.. I would say that is sentient

It's a survival mechanism.

Oreo

Callistemon21

I do talk to them sometimes . And to other plants.
And stroke their bark.

Did they consent to this stroking?😲

They don't like it when I get cross but they do buck up and grow.

Maybe read The Hidden Life of Trees... which shows that when tress are harmed they send out electrical signals almost like wounded human tissue, they can react to drought by retaining water within the tree and they communicate with other trees deep underground.. I would say that is sentient

I read a wonderful book about this and although it was fiction, much of the 'science' is believable (if you're me and a pagan).

www.amazon.com/Overstory-Novel-Richard-Powers/dp/039335668X?tag=gransnetforum-21

I love trees and plants and talk to all of mine, also welcoming new ones into the garden. I reckon my neighbours think I'm nuts but I don't care. To each their own!

We may feel uplifted when out in nature, but that doesn’t mean trees have awareness of our feelings.

Callistemon21

I do talk to them sometimes . And to other plants.
And stroke their bark.

Did they consent to this stroking?😲

maddyone

All of nature is uplifting. Being out of doors is known to be good for people. That doesn’t mean trees have consciousness, it means being in the great outdoors among nature is good for us, both physically and mentally.

I agree.
Being amongst nature really is uplifting, but trees don’t have consciousness and they’re not wise.

I love trees. We have a lovely big tree in our garden and its whispering branches in the breeze are delightful.
Funnily enough I saw an old film on TV yesterday about an elderly man trying to find out if trees and flowers responded to being attacked eg by scissors for flowers and an axe for a tree. He had devised a device to find out the answer and got a doctor to listen in who found it uncanny.

Leave!!

Whispering Leaves .....

Glad you enjoyed it!

It's my ear worm for the weekend 😁

Making a change from Fernando (the ABBA thread) and Lwave Right Now (the car radio)

Callistemon21
Thanks for that link. I’ve enjoyed the video several times already today and I’m singing it in my head!

It's ok, you just have to threaten it by saying "Chop, chop"

I’d run a mile if I heard a tree blabber Calli.

I do talk to them sometimes . And to other plants.
And stroke their bark.

maddyone

Haha, oh yes, whispering grass.

I think I’ll believe trees have consciousness when, if I speak to one, it answers me 😂

It will just blabber your secrets to all the others plants in the forest.
Never trust a blabbering tree.

I agree with vegansrock and MissA.

Plants are neither sentient nor have consciousness. They are alive but have no consciousness. If people believe they do and it makes them feel happy, then fine, believe it if you wish. It doesn’t mean it’s true, but strangely some who reject the idea of a God or anything religious, are making claims that trees are sentient or have consciousness.
They don’t.
But each to his/her own. It doesn’t do any harm, and if it makes a person feel better, so be it.

They're not sentient beings, as far as my thoughts go, which is admittedly not very far.

Well plants are living things, but do not have a brain or central nervous system so are certainly not conscious or aware in the same way as humans. It’s a bit wooo to say they are spiritual beings , you can’t extrapolate human physical pains or emotions to plants.