> The fresh-cut grass smell is a signal to other plants that the grass is in distress
This is really interesting. Signalling to other plants for what purpose? I'd like to read more about it.
This is really interesting. Signalling to other plants for what purpose? I'd like to read more about it.
“acacias nibbled by antelope produce leaf tannin in quantities lethal to the browsers, and emit ethylene into the air which can travel up to 50 yards. The ethylene warns other trees of the impending danger, which then step up their own production of leaf tannin within just five to ten minutes”
If it walks and quacks like a sentient being, why not call it a sentient being? One argument is the lack of complexity in reactions. That may be valid, but if so, where do you put the border between simple mechanical response and pain/warns others/…?
If that’s a gradual border, you can’t say the least complex of them aren’t feeling/having emotions/….
I think the distinction is gradual, with no clear border. That’s why I’m fine with calling this kind of responses ‘feeling’. On the other hand, I also don’t think cutting of a branch of an acacia is torture, but maybe I should call it torture on the extreme end of the scale of torture.