Intelligence & Evolution: pea plant risk taking (Evolution)

by dhw, Friday, July 01, 2016, 12:23 (2856 days ago) @ David Turell

QUOTE: "Efrat Dener, now a master's student at Ben Gurion University, Israel, and the study's first author, said: "Like most people, including even experienced farmers and gardeners, I used to look at plants as passive receivers of circumstances. This line of experiments illustrates how wrong that view is: living organisms are designed by natural selection to exploit their opportunities, and this often implies a great deal of flexibility."-David's comment: I'm not surprised at the findings. In the unpredictable pot at low concentration, more roots means more root searching for scant food, while at the higher level the plant is getting a satisfactory supply so extra root growth supplies more energy. All could be based on sensory programming. As usual the living organisms are very inventive in arranging for survival.-As always, I must thank you for the rich array of articles you are presenting to us. There isn't time to comment on all of them, and in many cases there is no need to do so anyway, but they really are appreciated. In this particular case, I cannot resist returning to the panpsychist view that all living organisms are possessed of some form of quasi-consciousness. I agree with the author that plants are not mere “passive receivers”, though I disagree that they are “designed by natural selection”. Natural selection never designed anything: it can only select from what is already in existence. I like your comment: “As usual the living organisms are very inventive in arranging for survival.” Yes, indeed. It may even be that your God does not need to "help" them, because he has given them the means to do the inventing for themselves.