There are living things, there are dead things, and then there are plants. These strange, alien creatures which dominate the natural environment hold up a mirror to our conceptions of what it means to be alive, and test the boundaries of important concepts in biology. It is uncontroversial to suggest that plants are alive, even if they are so in an utterly, incomparably different sense to animals. But what of consciousness?
To be absolutely clear, it seems vastly unlikely that plants feel pain, or have any kind of complex phenomenological experiences, and they certainly cannot abstract or reflect on conditional statements. Yet, the question of consciousness simpliciter (or at least “sentience”) in plants is, in the view of today’s guest, an open one.
There are plants which can detect the presence of objects in their environment without touching them. There are plants which can learn (exhibiting typical responses to certain stimuli, they can “remember” the effects of particular stimuli and adapt so as to respond differently in the future). There are plants which can move towards pipes which contain running water, even though the outside of the pipe is dry, implying that they possess an awareness at least analogous to “hearing”.
I am perfectly happy to accept that plants do not possess anything even remotely comparable to what we call consciousness. My only question is, if that is true, how do we otherwise explain the data?
I have spent considerable time in the past few years arguing that while consciousness is often arranged in complex manifestations such as memory, eyesight, melancholy, or selfhood, the mere fact of awareness is extremely simple, and perhaps even the kind of thing which may be present at the most fundamental level of reality (as in panpsychism).
I am hoping that, in this context, a serious consideration of plant consciousness will not come across as particularly “woo-woo”, at least prima facie. I am joined by American journalist Michael Pollan, author of A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness, to investigate this perplexing issue. As ever, I look forward to your early feedback.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - The Solar Eclipse
2:36 - What Is It Like To Be A Plant?
14:32 - Are Neurons Overrated?
17:38 - Is This All Complete Nonsense?
19:22 - The Strange Behaviour of Plants
25:00 - Consciousness by Negation
35:54 - Does Matter Or Consciousness Come First?
42:32 - What Do Humans Have That Plants Don’t?
52:48 - Do Plants Feel Pain?
55:15 - Is Feeling the Basis of Consciousness?
01:05:08 - Is Consciousness Falsifiable?
01:16:04 - Where Does Awareness Come From?
01:20:38 - Are Psychedelic Experiences Real?
01:23:22 - What is Everybody Getting Wrong About Consciousness?
