Do plants feel pain?

Watch the video and draw your own conclusions.

www.smithsonianchannel.com... 091034

Pretty interesting stuff.

I've always been of the mindset that plants have a lot more going on than main stream science traditionally says.

a reply to: Marvison

I used to tease my vegan friends that plants were alive too, just easier to hunt.

Guess I can't use that joke anymore.

Fascinating! I would imagine that any living thing would feel pain.

a reply to: Hmmmmmmm
This is a cool video
I've watched things on this idea before, from what I've seen plants seem to be completely different from what we thought, pain possibly even thought

a reply to: grey9438

It does raise an interesting dilemma for vegetarians.

If plants feel pain or have thoughts, why is eating meat wrong?

Plants, like animals, provide the best nutrition and energy if harvested at their peak.

Nope

originally posted by: Marvison
plants have a lot more going on than main stream science traditionally says.

Like what??

What exactly would that be?

a reply to: Hmmmmmmm

There is a video out there that shows that plants communicate with each other by releasing chemicals into the air. Such as when an animal is grazing on plants and when the plant is injured it emits a chemical, not to irritate the enemy but to warn its neighbors.
But what good does that do? The other plants can't pull up their roots and run away. Or shrivel up into the ground. But what I think happens is that the surviving neighbors "sour up" their goods and make themselves unpallatable. Just my theory...
cheers,

Kratos

a reply to: Kratos40

Sponges don't move very quickly either, and that's their main defense mechanism.

So it's entirely possible.

As a hunter I know how having a distressed animal can affect the quality of the meat.

Based on the video the impulses in plants move much slower than they do in animals, and I would think the reaction takes even longer.

It makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint to keep out of harms way, from single cell organisms to cute fuzzy animals.

Jeez...I just mowed the pasture earlier. Now I feel like Ghengis Khan.

a reply to: Hmmmmmmm

After so many eons of this happening, the plants are used to this and feel no pain. Is there evidence of electrical impulses occurring in plants? Has anyone detected elevated electrical fields on freshly cut lawns. Hmm..so what is that smell that occurs when the landscaper lops off an entire layer of grass?
Plants have adapted to this by growing roots and storing energy there. Once the threat is gone, they sprout again.
Imagine a human sitting at a bus stop and some lunatic with a Hatori Hanzo sword lopping off your head. Will you grow another head. No. But plants can.
Millions (if not billions) years of evolution lend to this adaptation.

Cheers,

Kratos

a reply to: Hmmmmmmm

i disagree .. i am vegan .. it raises zero dilemna for me ... really mate .. how could there possibly be a dilemna .. eh .. should i eat these veg .. or die .. hmmm .. hard one ....

no offense mate .. but those words seem to have come from a non-vegetarian that doesn't have a clue about vegetarians, or chooses to have something to say from an ignorant viewpoint .. cos i see them time and time againn .. from non vegetarians ... as tho they have a problem with vegetarians and cant help say these things to me ... gets a bit tedious after a while... same old stupid non-comical ignorant humour... and i also see vegetarians in meat eater faces about their ways also .. both scenarios just annoy me .. if anyone wants to eat meat .. go right ahead .. i do my own thing, and am not in anyones face about it, forcing my ways .. no .. and appreciate meat eaters to respect my choices, as i do theirs ..

in essence mate .. we want to live . not die .. and some of us, believe it or not, are quite smart, and have a brain to help us rationalise and stop such a dilemna from ever arising ... should i eat this, and live .. or eat nothing, and die .. youre pretty much suggesting were stupid mate .. without saying it as such ... you sound just like another one of those meat eaters that have sopmething to say about vegetarians ..

also ... experiments suggesting plants feel pain, and have the ability to determine 'who did it', and react to them accordingly, have been conducted since at least the early 70s .. if not far longer ... here we are at least 40 years later .. wondering if plants feel pain ...

no offense to op .. it is interesting and should be brought to people attention .. but on a larger scale .. what is it with silly humans .. weve known for 40 years plants respond this way .. yet .. today, people are askig .. do you think plants feel pain ? ... probably over 90% of people still have no idea today... or don't care
perhaps we'll get it in another 40 years ? ... its not really plants so much as human nature in general .. same is true with just about any knowledge we should incorporate as common sense ... we have this same dumbness about us with just about everything that is staring us in the face ... which is why we all think its okay to drink and eat poison in our processed foods, and smirk at the ones who try not to cos they dont want poisoned ... then we run to the doctor for pills to counter the physical ailments once the processed poison food takes its toll on us .. people are silly ... long live the plants !!

am away for a coffee to wake me up ... God bless y'all

a reply to: Hmmmmmmm

That's pretty fascinating. Thanks for that.

Interesting.

I'm not all that surprised though. A plant surely communicates with at least itself. Since they are living, and breathing, yes that's right, breathing organisms. They need some kind of a way to transport food and energy to itself. And they need to create sugar as a means to give itself energy. A plant, much like an animal, has many cells inside of itself, and there would have to be a lot of transportation and orienting going on. They need to receive vital materials for the cells survival, as well as being able to release waste products it doesn't need anymore. And other things like trying to rebuild damaged cells/leaves.

It's hard to say if plants feel pain though. They do send electrical signals, and have shown to be aware of their surroundings to some extent, but they lack the same kind of nervous system we humans/animals do. They indeed use electricity, which is a vital part of an organism communicating with itself, especially when it comes to feeling pain, since that's all pain really is; electrical signals being relayed to our brain. But i'll have to say it's hard to tell for sure if they feel pain or not. If they did, then it would probably be quite different than the way we experience it. Since we humans not only have a nervous system, but a brain as well.

Although I will say it's amazing that plants are able to do things such as remember, react, and communicate without a central nervous system. It just goes to show how diverse and incredible nature is.

a reply to: Honcho

good point .. pain is just a word we used to label a concept ... yeah .. id like to retract the word 'pain' from my previous post if it construes the plant would feel 'pain' in the exact same sense as us .. cos quite clearly that would be impossible as you just pointed out ..

yeah, it's likely they don't feel 'pain' as such .. as far as our concept of pain goes .. but have an alternative sensory set up to be aware of its surroundings, with regards to possible danger, etc ... that serve a similar purpose as our 'pain' does to us .. to make aware of damage / injury etc ... and who did it

they literally have no nerves, so theres no way for them to convey any pain stimulus to anything and they dont have brains.

so definitely no.

I feel so guilty now....

Cool science though!