2 answers
Sapna
Student
Paro, Bhutan
2
Questions
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Do plants have soul?
I have been wondering this because I have heard that plants get hurt and they make their own food and all. I don't know if that is good question or not...but sometimes you gotta think out of box...
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2 answers
saloni jain
Automation intern
3
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Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
Updated
saloni’s Answer
I think, i can answer this question not practically to be exact but with the facts/sayings that my mother always says to me. She always told me that every single thing in this word that can grow has some sort of senses, it could either be plants, tiny microbes or any other such things. We may not aware of that sense for now since we only know our 5 basic senses: to taste,smell,see,touch and hear but there are other senses too that those species has. So, to conclude my point here based on what i've always believed is plants has some sort of sense and they actually got hurt if not taken care properly.
Loved reading this, thanks!
Mariama
Joseph Neilson
Radiation Detection Physicist
218
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Oxford, England, United Kingdom
Updated
Joseph’s Answer
A soul generally means a belief of the essence of a person separate to their body, and in several belief systems may persist after death. Matters of souls depend on your belief system - scientifically speaking, there's no such thing as a soul. I think what you really mean are the concepts of consciousness, sentience and sapience.
These concepts are defined differently in different contexts, so can be a bit "woolly" and difficult to compare and contrast, but essentially, consciousness is the most basic, and means an awareness of your surroundings and needs - think of being awake (conscious) vs asleep (unconscious). There's a huge variance in levels of consciousness - at the most basic level, a creature might only be conscious of its very immediate surroundings and basic emotional needs like hunger, but humans have a much greater degree of awareness.
Sentience is sometimes considered synonymous with consciousness, but can also imply a slightly higher level of being able to experience emotional feelings.
Sapience is the next step up, and is a level of intelligent thought and judgement, often what we'd call "wisdom", and includes having awareness of your own existence. This is a level that pretty much only humans have, potentially along with some "smart" animals like dogs, dolphins etc who may also have this level of thought.
Plants don't have the complex centralised nervous systems that animal life has, so it's unlikely that they can experience these types of feelings and thought. However, some plants do use chemical and bioelectrical signalling, and can respond to some stimuli like being damaged or for things like the Venus Fly Trap, the presence of its "prey" to eat, and this type of signalling may be interpreted as having senses, but it's very basic. The current scientific consensus seems to be that plants don't have sapience or sentience; and most research would suggest there's not any level of conscious thought going on. Some studies do claim to have observed things that point to conscious intent in plants, but I'm not aware of any research that makes a rigorous case for plant consciousness that can't be otherwise explained.
These concepts are defined differently in different contexts, so can be a bit "woolly" and difficult to compare and contrast, but essentially, consciousness is the most basic, and means an awareness of your surroundings and needs - think of being awake (conscious) vs asleep (unconscious). There's a huge variance in levels of consciousness - at the most basic level, a creature might only be conscious of its very immediate surroundings and basic emotional needs like hunger, but humans have a much greater degree of awareness.
Sentience is sometimes considered synonymous with consciousness, but can also imply a slightly higher level of being able to experience emotional feelings.
Sapience is the next step up, and is a level of intelligent thought and judgement, often what we'd call "wisdom", and includes having awareness of your own existence. This is a level that pretty much only humans have, potentially along with some "smart" animals like dogs, dolphins etc who may also have this level of thought.
Plants don't have the complex centralised nervous systems that animal life has, so it's unlikely that they can experience these types of feelings and thought. However, some plants do use chemical and bioelectrical signalling, and can respond to some stimuli like being damaged or for things like the Venus Fly Trap, the presence of its "prey" to eat, and this type of signalling may be interpreted as having senses, but it's very basic. The current scientific consensus seems to be that plants don't have sapience or sentience; and most research would suggest there's not any level of conscious thought going on. Some studies do claim to have observed things that point to conscious intent in plants, but I'm not aware of any research that makes a rigorous case for plant consciousness that can't be otherwise explained.