I have always argued that plants possess intelligence. For example, a tree in a crowded grove with grow towards an opening for sunlight; a sun flower will track the sun as it moves across the sky; flowers open and close with the warm/cold temperatures; trees react to the cooling of fall and winter, knowing when to grow again in the spring – so on and so forth. Plants are intelligent beings, though most people do not think of them as such. Plants can also feel pain and heal themselves. Often times I wonder, how often if ever, do vegetarians thinks about such things? As a vegetarian, do you recognize that every time you pick a plant, or eat a plant you have destroyed a life form all the same as a carnivore?
If the video above does not get the point across, there was a separate study conducted by the University of Missouri, which went on to show that plants can hear themselves being eaten. According to the findings, when a stimulus effect was applied, such as the sound of a caterpillar eating a leaf, the plants immediately released a mild toxin in an attempt to ward off the attack. When other acoustic stimuli, such as the sound of wind was applied to the same plants, the plants knew not to release the toxin. The research “suggests plants are able to identify sounds in their environment.”
This is not a “troll” of vegetarians, or anything like this. I would like to think this is educational; that it will get people talking, and I am genuinely interested to get peoples opinions/reactions to these questions. This is a debate I have had with close circles of friends, and would like to share with the public.
Something I find interesting is that some people actually argue that cats, dogs, birds and animals in general don’t possess intelligence – there have even been scientific studies on this subject. Personally, this mystifies me. Of course, all of these animals possesses intelligence; do you believe that animals can learn things, or survive in the wild because they do not have intelligence? I have never understood this logic.
But if some people believe that animals don’t posses intelligence, then a significantly larger portion of the population must believe that plants do not posses intelligence – right? Tell us your thoughts….
Join the conversations at www.anonboards.com
This article (The Morality of Vegetarianism) is a free and open source. You have permission to republish this article using a creative commons license with attribution to the author and AnonHQ. Join the conversations at www.anonboards.com.
the thing is, when you eat an animal, you are not only killing that animal, but it has consumed a lot of plants already. and the vast majority of people who eat meat ALSO eat vegetables. additionally, a lot of the plant matter we eat are the seed bearing parts that the plant has evolved for the very purpose of being eaten, to spread their seed. bottom line, you ask me whether I’d rather kill a cow or pick some tomatoes, I’m going to go for the tomatoes all day every day.
To your point, I have always wondered why plants, like tomatoes, have never evolved defenses against being eaten. Sure some have and you are right some seeds have evolved to be eaten so when they are pooped out, the seed is fertilized. But despite trees being cut down since the beginning of time and plants be killed for food it is odd a higher percentage never evolved defensively.
Just to answer your question righteous the reason as to why plants like tomatoes don’t have “defenses” is because the seeds are still germinating and growing even after being consumed. You really have to see it from an evolutionary perspective. Lets say 10/100 tomatoes can germinate within an animals digestive tract, the 90 that can’t survive do not reproduce and therefore that trait dies out. So in a way the fact that they can survive being ingested is a defense to stop them from becoming extinct.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/wildlife/how-plants-defend-themselves-zm0z13amzcom.aspx
Maybe they defend their species by spreading easily, easier than animals.
As don Jaun taught: one must apologize to the plant before one kills it.. Who knows?
this post has to be a joke right?
I like to make people talk. Think about things maybe they have not thought about before; challenge their convictions. It is a hobby I suppose
to the super smart guy who’s clearly an idiot, at one point in time someone said “animals have no intelligence nor a soul, so why feel bad for eating them” was he right? no he wasn’t. and its also been proven that a majorly meat based diet isn’t all that good for you anyways. what the writer is saying, or at least what I gather from his article, is that all life should have value, and that we need to stop seeing the world as simply resources for us to consume. from the insects to the plants, to the animals that populate this world. nothing last forever not even the resources our planet can provide us. we need to learn respect for life as a hole, and not just our own selfish desires.
“This is not a “troll” of vegetarians” I definitely think you’re trolling me Righteous x) jk
That’s something I never thought about and I agree with fundamentaly flawed humanity, we take everything for granted and forget how everything is a blessing and how every single life was decreed sacred.
that was interesting reading, thanks Righteous.