RE: Do you ever doubt your atheism?
August 17, 2014 at 11:15 am
(This post was last modified: August 17, 2014 at 11:17 am by The Grand Nudger.)
Now, for something completely down to earth - and the final installment (for now..or until such time as I make a thread about this stuff...lol)- corn and lima beans.
Corn and Lima beans display a set of behaviors so impressive that it make make us stop and wonder just how impressive our own behaviors are. When attacked by a particular species of caterpillar, both of these plants begin to emit a chemical signal that lures parasitic wasps, who, upon locating the source of the plant signal, find a wonderful place to set up shop - eventually annihilating the caterpillars. They don't emit this signal when they are attacked by aphids or beetles.
http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/121/2/325.full
So, they are apparently - somehow- "self aware". They "know" when they are being attacked. Not only that, they have some idea of whats attacking them. To further compound this little mystery they then produce a signal which attracts a specific predator - that then preys on this specific predator itself. That is some mind bogglingly complex stuff right there. Now, I;ve used quotation marks in alot of this - because the words in them are useful for conveying what the plants are doing, but not so useful in that what they are doing bears no real analogue to the manner in which we do similar things. What stands out, is that the same -effect- is achieved. I don't want to insinuate that we aren't better "thinkers" - objectively, we are- however, and this is a big however, "thinking"...or the effect of thought, awareness, choice, planning, etc doesn't seem to be something that plants are incapable of. Some of them do seem to possess that ability (or something similar to a similar or identical effect- and at what point thinking, or thought, or consciousness is not considered an effect - I wouldn't know)- and all the while they possess abilities that we do not.
So no, I don't think we have a "leg up", we simply have legs (and they do not).
Corn and Lima beans display a set of behaviors so impressive that it make make us stop and wonder just how impressive our own behaviors are. When attacked by a particular species of caterpillar, both of these plants begin to emit a chemical signal that lures parasitic wasps, who, upon locating the source of the plant signal, find a wonderful place to set up shop - eventually annihilating the caterpillars. They don't emit this signal when they are attacked by aphids or beetles.
http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/121/2/325.full
So, they are apparently - somehow- "self aware". They "know" when they are being attacked. Not only that, they have some idea of whats attacking them. To further compound this little mystery they then produce a signal which attracts a specific predator - that then preys on this specific predator itself. That is some mind bogglingly complex stuff right there. Now, I;ve used quotation marks in alot of this - because the words in them are useful for conveying what the plants are doing, but not so useful in that what they are doing bears no real analogue to the manner in which we do similar things. What stands out, is that the same -effect- is achieved. I don't want to insinuate that we aren't better "thinkers" - objectively, we are- however, and this is a big however, "thinking"...or the effect of thought, awareness, choice, planning, etc doesn't seem to be something that plants are incapable of. Some of them do seem to possess that ability (or something similar to a similar or identical effect- and at what point thinking, or thought, or consciousness is not considered an effect - I wouldn't know)- and all the while they possess abilities that we do not.
So no, I don't think we have a "leg up", we simply have legs (and they do not).
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