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?

In article , Helen
writes
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?

Plants react to their treatment and surroundings by various means. They
are born, grow, feed, drink, procreate, protect themselves, age and die.
They are living beings, as are mobile creatures of the animal world.
They do not have a brain but they do have the equivalent of a nerve
system by which messages are carried between their physical parts.

In humans, feelings are seen as the operation of the nerve system in
body and mind. That makes them sentient creatures. They can observe and
communicate about the feelings of other beings, but they cannot
experience them. That has often led to a belief that such feelings do
not exist, as seen in the case of fish, animals and even other humans.

I personally think that plants do have feelings of a type, though
probably not experienced as humans feel pain or emotion.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

In article , Helen
writes
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?


First you have to be clear about what you mean by 'feelings'. Mere
reaction to sensory perception? Emotional response?

--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

Alan Gould wrote:

In article , Helen
writes

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?


Plants react to their treatment and surroundings by various means. They
are born, grow, feed, drink, procreate, protect themselves, age and die.
They are living beings, as are mobile creatures of the animal world.
They do not have a brain but they do have the equivalent of a nerve
system by which messages are carried between their physical parts.

In humans, feelings are seen as the operation of the nerve system in
body and mind. That makes them sentient creatures. They can observe and
communicate about the feelings of other beings, but they cannot
experience them. That has often led to a belief that such feelings do
not exist, as seen in the case of fish, animals and even other humans.

I personally think that plants do have feelings of a type, though
probably not experienced as humans feel pain or emotion.
If it is ever proved that plants have feelings, and can feel pain what
on earth are veggies going to do? :-(

--
Please do not reply by Email, as all
emails to this address are automatically deleted.

In message , Broadback
writes
If it is ever proved that plants have feelings, and can feel pain what
on earth are veggies going to do? :-(

Eat cabbages that are certified to have died a natural death.

(Who originally wrote that? - Asimov?)

--
dave @ stejonda
Bring culture back to NTL.
http://www.performance-channel.com/

In article , Broadback
writes
If it is ever proved that plants have feelings, and can feel pain what on earth
are veggies going to do? :-(

They become frutarians - who will only eat bits that animals and plants
shed - fruit is OK, as is milk and possibly eggs, but not carrots.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

In message , Kay
writes
fruit is OK, as is milk

though it's not the milk that is the concern but the veal that is
necessary for (cow) milk to be produced

--
dave @ stejonda
Bring culture back to NTL.
http://www.performance-channel.com/

"Helen" wrote in message
u...
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?


Not having a nervous system, I feel they probably don't, but there are huge
discussions on the net about this very subject:
http://ar.vegnews.org/plant_consciousness.html

Jenny

In article , dave @ stejonda NoSpamThanks
@stejonda.freeuk.com writes
In message , Kay
writes
fruit is OK, as is milk

though it's not the milk that is the concern but the veal that is
necessary for (cow) milk to be produced

That's not strictly so, is it? You can take some of a cow's milk and
leave enough for the calf. I thought veal production had a whole source
of other worries.

It's impossible to live without drawing some veil over some aspect of
what you are doing. Different people draw the line in different places.
The truth is that as a species we are just too abundant not to have an
adverse effect. That doesn't absolve us from the responsibility to try
to minimise that effect.

--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

In article , JennyC
writes

"Helen" wrote in message
. au...
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?


Not having a nervous system, I feel they probably don't,

Comes back to definition of 'feelings' doesn't it? Does someone whose
nervous system is shot to hell have less 'feelings' than the rest of us?
Less physical sensation, yes, but their emotions are intact, and their
capacity for distress.

I'm inclined to think it's something to do with the extent to which the
control systems are centralised.

--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

On 14/8/04 12:09, in article , "Kay"
wrote:

snip Comes back to definition of 'feelings' doesn't it? Does someone
whose
nervous system is shot to hell have less 'feelings' than the rest of us?
Less physical sensation, yes, but their emotions are intact, and their
capacity for distress.

I'm inclined to think it's something to do with the extent to which the
control systems are centralised.

Do you remember there was something written about experiments in this line?
Was it in The Secret Life of Plants? I seem to recall something about a
scientist burning the leaf of a plant with a cigarette and then the plant
was hooked up to electrodes to register its 'reactions'. When the same man
entered the room again there was - apparently - a distinct reaction from the
plant. I may not be remembering this very clearly but it was along those
lines.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

On 14/8/04 13:56, in article ,
"Martin" wrote:

On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 13:43:48 +0100, Sacha
wrote:
snip

Do you remember there was something written about experiments in this line?
Was it in The Secret Life of Plants? I seem to recall something about a
scientist burning the leaf of a plant with a cigarette and then the plant
was hooked up to electrodes to register its 'reactions'. When the same man
entered the room again there was - apparently - a distinct reaction from the
plant. I may not be remembering this very clearly but it was along those
lines.

Is this thread leading to giving up eating food all together? ;-)

If taken to its logical conclusion it's going to given vegans and
vegetarians food for nothing but thought. ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

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.

Plants ( and any other living things ) have the ability to react to
their environment based on what their senses, such as they are, allow
them to perceive - although you could argue that for the most part
these reactions are more mechanical in nature.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

"Helen" wrote in message
u...
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?

Show me the plant's memory and nervous systems.

Franz

"Helen" wrote in message
u...
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?

Please define "feelings" before going f into this particular
pseudo-philosophical direction.

Franz