Plant Intelligence

This article is almost five years old, however, I believe it is a very interesting. It is essentially a study into how plants can act "intelligently." This si not meant to be human-like intelligence, as we speak of the difference between humans and animals. It's more simply that plants are not automatons, but can communicate, react and *think* in ways generally not discussed. It's quite long but very accessible IMO. It's not a layman's guide, but any armchair scientists should be able to shoot through it without any big hangups.

Aspects of Plant Intelligence

I also noticed a thread by Soficrow from a couple years back, so I'll post the link for reference. Are Plants Intelligent? by Soficrow

One implication of this, discussed enar the end of the article, is that brains and neurons may simply be one of many ways of creating a mind. The idea that consciousness is a naturally emergent property of information processing. Could it be that if plants could be considered "aware," then many other systems in this world (bacterial colonies for example) could also? What about the entire ecosystem? What about entire solar systems? All could be considered to be information processors on wildy different scales.

I plan to read the full article later -- but I do enjoy the idea of consciousness as a naturally-emergent property of information processing. I've recently been investigating the planet -- indeed, all known systems -- as part of one large intelligence which, due to its complexity, is capable of interacting with its myriad components through the use of seemingly-random events. It might explain why we -- as conscious and ever-restless observers -- are capable of identifying patterns in almost every data set, regardless of the nature of the data.

Or in other terms, it may explain why we can make conspiracy theories out of almost anything

But that's a tangent that may not be suitable for this thread. Thank you for posting this information. You have enriched my day.

By this definition of intelligence, bacteria and even slime moulds are also intelligent.

(If observed behavioural changes in an organism result in) a marked increase in chances of survival for many situations, then (the organism) is intelligent.

Does this seem like a fair test (of intelligence)?

If it is, then it would mean that entities like collaborating bacterial colonies are actually intelligent. Every bacteria follows some basic chemical signalling rules, and the behavior of the group as a whole adapts to never before seen circumstances. What we call a brain in higher organisms, is also of course a collection of multiple single cells called neurons, communicating with each other using chemical neurotransmitters and actual physical pathways and junctions, all working in conjunction to enhance the survival of the containing body.

Source

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It's a smart old world.