Stephen Howard wrote:
On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 17:45:51 +0100, Janet Baraclough..
wrote:


The message

from Stephen Howard contains these words:

On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 11:16:49 +1000, "Helen" wrote:

Recently I saw a programme about whether or not plants have feelings - some
said "of course they don't" and there were others who said they were sure
they did. What do you think?


I think it unlikely.
Evolution makes use of whatever advantages it can lay its hands on -
and in the case of animals it's made very good use of the range of
feelings that we might term 'instincts'.

Had the same been true for plants then you might find that your
courgettes would kick you in the shins when you tried to pick
them...or your sweet peas slap you round the face when you tried to
cut the blooms.
They've been around a great deal longer than us, so it's fair to
assume that if they haven't evolved in this fashion by now then they
never will.

What about nettles, thorny things and poisonous plants? They might not
be able to kick you in the shins (though I've met docks that could
wrestle a grown man to the ground) but they have evolved a means to
resist "attack".


That's true - but the system they've evolved is an 'always on' one.
The presence of 'feelings' would surely give rise to a range of
defence/attack mechanisms that would be brought into play at
discretion, in reaction to certain conditions...in the same way that a
little terrier can be a cute, fluffy ball of fun one minute, and a
mass of sharp, pointy teeth the next ( or is that just my dog? ).

Having said all that, I'm pretty sure my Heliotropes are sulking...

Regards,



If I may steal an idea from an ancient philosopher, how do you know that
nettles do not sting unless something brushes against them?

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