Plant Perception

I was on Wikipedia and I found this article:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_perception

If plants were found to have feelings or minds, what would this mean to vegetarians? (If this were found to be true, I would probably starve. I've enjoyed biting the heads off of so much broccoli)

What about all the pot that's been smoked?
I already accept the idea that plants have spiritual energy. ^
What would you do?

 

Wow, that is the most interesting article i have ever read! Now i have now clue what to think...i thought being a vegan was good because i thought that i wasnt contributing to suffering, but now... i dont know what to think!

 

duh,hypothetically typing, itz ah matter uv degreez, how cold or warm one kan get.

 

Even if plants can feel pain (and I don't believe that they can), then you are causing less harm by eating the plants directly because the animals we eat also eat plants, way more plants than people eat.

If you truly believe that plants feel pain and you would prefer not to inflict any pain, you can always consider becoming a fruitarian.

 

o u have to be kidding....do plants have eyes?..can they make noise?...can they move freely on their own, have motor skills???...i dont see plants as a living organism because i dont have to look into its eyes or get attatched to it....thats the dumbest thing ive ever heard...

 

sweetdreamlover~ Personally, I think the fact the you ignore the ability of plants to grow and change and even breath to call them non-living organisms is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.~ Just because something is different from you in a way that you refuse to understand because you refuse to change your perspective to any other than your own, doesn't mean it can't possibley feel things in a manner similar to your's nor does it make it inferior. In fact, plants have been on this planet far longer than any animal found, who's to say that we are superior, perhaps the plants have simply evolved in manner that is far beyond or different than our comprehension to understand.~ Here is something you might find interesting, there is apparently a religion in India called Jainism that teaches and literally means, "Non-violence" to be without limits including eating not of most plants because it would involve killing them.

 

He/she is talking to sweetdreadlover who doesn't see plants as living organisms, lol...

 

My post is directed to the Human race in general to.~
Thank you, pipgirl.~ You are beautiful~ I am a young man.~ ^_^

 

I think to answer the rest of your question drumminmama and Flyinglilypad: We as a society of Humans who care for the well-being of all things would evolve.~ People have split off from Veganism to Fruitarianism and even to Jainism or a form of Fruitarian Jainism (I don't know if anyone else has done this, but this was the ultimate diet I ended up with during my experimentation with dieting in college).~ Jainism is religion in India that literally translates and means "non-violence" and there is no limit this practice of non-violence.~ You ever see people walking around in India wearing white-cloth from head to toe and covering their mouths and padding their feet with white cloth?~ They believe in not even harming the smallest unseeable microorganisms in the air, so they wear cloth over their face to avoid inhaling them and cloth padding on their feet and walking very slowly and carefully to avoid stepping on any small creatures like ants.~ This is not a joke, this a religion taken very seriously in India.~
They refuse to eat plants like carrots or potatoes, because the whole plant is a root and eating it would kill it.~ They do however drink milk, BUT only if they milk the cow or goat or other creature themselves as to make sure it is not harmed in the process. They believe when harm and diress has been caused to a creature before harvesting it for food transfers into the resulting food so this is the main reason they refuse to drink commercial milk.~ Naturally they refuse to eat all forms of meat.~

 

I was as I said in my post a Fruitarian Jain as far as diet and beliefs about non-violence went.~ However there is something you all should take into account before taking any diet, the cravings can be extremely trying and opposition to your diet or lack of support can make it even harder.~

In the end, I became comfortable with the fact I eat dead things mostly (not sure about how long some plants stay alive).~ I'm still peaceful will not eat live things, and things before the age of full maturity.~ I also take full responsibility for the fact I have killed many things in the past and still may do so unconsiouly, luckily plants are extremely hard to kill and have an amazing ability to live through almost anything.~

 

I've watched trees over the years heal their wounds and grow branches to compensate. They may not have brains as such, but they're definitely alive and aren't stupid.

 

I think when it comes to understanding other things not Human, like some famous guy once said We should not try to anthropomorphize other creatures, that is projecting our own species characteristics onto another.~ Otherwise we will never truly understand them.~ Much like going to another country and culture and looking at it not from the people who live there and are apart of that culture's view, but from your own countries' and your own cultures' point of view.~

You can learn so much more just by changing your perspective.~

 

Plant perception was tackled on Mythbusters awhile ago. I'm afraid I don't know how long ago, as we watched it on Netflix rather than broadcast, but it was rather amusing.

From what I understand, those original studies were not whether plants are alive or not - but whether have any self-awareness. And from a purely scientific approach, they appear not to be. This having been said, I don't see any sense in wasting. Sure, we need to kill a carrot to eat it. But we don't need to buy more than we can use, killing MORE than we need.

love,
mom

 

True, I may not know whether or not fruit feels pain, but I THINK that the plant WANTS us to eat it so we may distribute it's seed, so I consider that the only raw thing I can eat that would not cause suffering (hopefully) or at least I'm doing something that I think it seems most likely the plant wants me to do.~