December 16, 2016 - 16:05
Many organisms on Earth have dealt with pain. But what exactly is pain? The definition of Pain is “physical suffering or distress, as due to injury or illness”. Humans associate pain with organisms that have a conscious or can experience emotions. For example, animals feel scared when they are to be eaten by other predators. What about the other organisms on Earth? What about the plants? Do plants feel scared when they are to be cut off from their roots in order to be eaten or made into other products? Many people don’t associate plants having a conscious because they are supposedly “emotion-less”. But they grow and reproduce like many species and eventually die due to consumption. They also inhabit the Earth and play a huge role in the survival of all the other organisms on the planet. They are the reason for our existence and one of the sources for our food. The fact of the matter is that all life on Earth is interconnected and the cycle of life is the mode for survival.
The fight against animal cruelty and the fight for animal rights are more popular in today’s modern culture. Supporting animal rights is important because they are as equal as humans are. Many vegans and vegetarians strongly advocate for more consumption of plants because it is considered more ethical. But what if plants did have emotions? Would humans and animals stop consuming plants because they had a conscious?
According to the article “Smarty Plants: Research shows they can Think, Feel, and Learn” by Marc Bekoff, researchers have found that “They are finding that plants have a sophisticated awareness of their environment and of each other, and can communicate what they sense… Some botanists argue that they are intelligent beings, with a 'neurobiology' all of their own. There's even tentative talk of plant consciousness." In the article, many experiments were conducted to see how plants responded to forms of communication, such as music. Like humans, all plants respond to music differently. Certain types of music help stimulate their growth while others inhibit it. It was found that “plants have ESP (extra sensory perception) beyond just touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing”. Plants are more similar to humans than previously thought. But would it be considered better if we didn’t consume the plants and animals that inhabited the planet? Plants are intelligent like many animals so is it better to not hurt them? Unfortunately without plants and animals, there would be no way to gain our essential nutrients.
In Bekoff’s article, he states “In fact, a plant's awareness of its environment is often keener than an animal's precisely because plants cannot flee from danger and so must sense and adapt to it." And according to Erik Brush in “Root of Consciousness: Plants can think, feel, and learn”, “Plants are not lower life forms. Rather they are different life forms”. It is true that plants are different life forms and they have different characteristics. But humans and plants are the same in some instances. Like plants, some humans cringe at the moment of pain. And similarly, we both learn to adapt to the new environments that we live in.
“We humans are impatient. We kill each other. We kill animals. We kill plants. It’s the cycle of life. But we are no better than anything else and we are not as removed in our mental and emotional development as we might think that we are, from other animal species” (Brush). Even though plants and animals do have a consciousness, it cannot stop humans from consuming them in order to stay alive. Humanity has relied on the lives of many organisms for thousands of years for survival. Plants and animals have the essential nutrients that keep other organisms alive and healthy. Without them, life would cease to exist. There should be equilibrium among other habitants on Earth. We must strive for equality among the animal and plant community as we do among humans.
WORKS CITED:
Bush, Erik. “Roots of Consciousness: Plants Can Think, Feel and Learn.” Ethicalomnivore.org. Ethical Omnivore Movement, 5 Jan. 2016. Web. 16 Dec. 2016.
Bekoff, M. (n.d.). Smarty Plants: Research shows they Think, Feel, and Learn. Retrieved December 16, 2016, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201412/smarty-plants-research-shows-they-think-feel-and-learn.