The Theory of Nothing

Are plants sensitive to our emotions?

Are plants sensitive to our emotions?

This question falls under the Plant Perception paranormal theory, which suggests that plants have feelings and are sentient. In other words, they know more than we think. The main problem with this idea is that plants don't have nervous systems, or so it seems.

The concept of plants having emotions goes back to 1848. A German psychologist researched the idea and found that plant growth can be enhanced with encouraging talk and affection.

Subsequent researchers found that plants supposedly can respond to music and loud sounds, and that they can feel pain. However, it wasn't until Cleve Backster conducted research that indicated that plants could communicate with other life forms that this idea became more popular. He also worked for the CIA so he gave a plant a polygraph test and said it proved his theories. There have been other researchers that claimed similar results.

The MythBusters TV show repeated some of these experiments in 2006 and found no evidence that they were valid.

That's the trouble with science; in order for a theory to be verified, it must be repeatable.

A 1973 book entitled 'The Secret Life of Plants' by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird describe experiments that reveal that plants are sentient.

What is the truth? That's a good question. It's obvious that plants do respond to such things as sunlight and heat, but that's built into their structures. Could they hear sounds? There is a possibility that plant structures could vibrate from sound and react accordingly. They may even react more amicably to soft pleasing music. These ideas come under the science of plant physiology.

According to scientists in this field, plants can respond to chemicals, gravity, light, moisture, infections, temperature, carbon dioxide concentrations, sounds and touch. They detect these stimuli at the cellular level. Plants are able to communicate chemically with one another and warn of harmful dangers. They release volatile chemicals as a means of alarming others of their kind.

Plant cells are not like nerve cells but electricity will excite them and they can show evidence of electrical potentials when exposed to outside stimuli, and these electrical potentials can often change their metabolism, resulting in changes that appear to be intelligent. As you might imagine, change in a plant can take some time.

Probably the most important stimulus to a plant is light because of their innate photosynthesis process. Plants obviously adjust to a diurnal cycle of light and dark. Everyone has seen how leaves and stems of plants turn toward the light.

Does this mean that plants are intelligent? That's a question that's hard to answer because plants are certainly much different than we are. Their intelligence is alien to us, and it's hard for us to understand how they think and communicate. The idea of plants reacting to emotions had been debunked, but that doesn't mean that plants can't sense our moods and emotions. They just do it by another method. So, be sure to love your plants and give them loving care. They'll definitely appreciate it.

Thanks for reading.