Sunday, December 22, 2024

Podcast for Inquiry S03E24: Paco Calvo considers the possibility of plant intelligence

Paco’s thesis is a provocative one: plants are, in a meaningful sense, intelligent. Paco discusses what intelligence is, and how we might recognize it in other beings. People used to believe that only humans are intelligent. Over time, other mammals were deemed to also think and feel. Today, most people grant that many animals, such as birds and octopi, exhibit intelligent behaviours. Paco extends this to  plants by detailing what science has to say - both theoretically and empirically - about the hypothesis of plant intelligence. The conversation concludes with some thoughts about the moral and philosophical implications if plants are found to be truly intelligent.

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1 comment:

  1. Thy Taxonomic Kingdoms come on Earth as they do in the Heavens, Creationists!!! I remember when your heads exploded upon hearing the line 'you and me, baby, ain't nothin' but mammals' from the song The Bad Touch (!) by The Bloodhound Gang, so l'm gonna get off so hard on your reactions to Planta Sapiens!!! If l could find the clip of Avi Lewis interviewing the Creationist sent from central casting, in full periwinkle polyester leisure suit regalia, in which the latter referenced that line, l would post it, but here's the video of the song instead:

    https://youtu.be/6f7pgA0riU8?feature=shared

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