Daniel Chamovitz - Are Plants Sentient?

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To inquire whether plants are “sentient” sounds like pseudoscience but has become real science. What does a plant know? Plants can react to their environments, but can plants sense or feel? Can they remember long-term? Can they adapt and learn? Are plants intelligent? And are they in any sense aware?
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Daniel Chamovitz is an American-born plant geneticist and the 7th President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel.
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Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[@Jeff-tt7wj]

The plants in the background are like “crap…they’re onto us”

[@Kritiker313]

Ahh, that was going to be my joke! 🙂

[@Jeff-tt7wj]

@@Kritiker313 It’s ok. Let’s both enjoy this joke together as co-founders. 😂

[@cliflord9244]

hahaha

[@Lak735]

They are plastic.

[@kevinsayes]

@@Lak735their are people who spell things there way and just post it right they’re. Isn’t that f’ing infuriating to read? I know maybe it’s a minor thing, but people seem to genuinely not understand this. I just don’t get it, truly. It’s the language you speak.

[@0ptimal]

As a kid in michigan, i was addicted to the woods. I had to be out in the pines every day. Id wake up early, get my shoes on and run out there, i just loved it. But one day while out in a nice spot i was just overcome with awe at how beautiful it was out there. I sat down and rested my back against a tall pine, and just looked around in amazement. In that silence i realized i was actually feeling an intense "hum." It literally felt like the trees were emitting a powerful low hum, and it felt so good. I sat there aware of it and said to myself, "This is what perfect feels like." 30 yrs ago and ive never forgotten it. Ive since concluded that the trees were speaking to me, embracing me, filling me with something that they were emitting. Sounds kooky, but im convinced there's something to it.

[@backpackbattles4176]

That’s awesome, thanks for sharing. Glad you were able to connect to nature as a kid

[@shirk_slayer]

What an amazing experience. Thank you for sharing

[@Dr_b_]

Were you shroomin' bro?

[@ezbody]

Whether there anything to it is less important than having to experience a great feeling, because it is so rare.

[@ct00001]

I've spent many years in the garden and I earnestly believe that plants have personalities. They are more attuned and responsive to their environment than most people.

[@stevenpham6734]

Your 2nd statement is quite obviously true, however you're gonna need to provide some arguments for the 1st claim.

[@ct00001]

@@stevenpham6734 well to be fair, I'm not stating it to be true, only that I beleive it to be so. My only evidence would be the same as evidence I have for people having personalities. Specimens from the same genus, growing in the same environment, presenting a wide variation of responses to stimili.

[@ryanb6658]

It was a joke about 20yrs in the garden 😊

[@lukeskydropper]

Are you the type of person that thinks a dead universe is better than a human universe?

[@ItsEverythingElse]

The invasive vines in my yard "know" how to piss me off.

[@sven888]

They are just happy to be alive just like animals and people.

[@ravingcyclist624]

I have a bog garden of carnivorous plants. The Fly Traps not only sense for more than one hair touched, they will open the trap again if no movement is detected inside the trap. They also detect the sun location and orient the blooms is that direction. (Yes, the bloom just like other plants.) BTW: Excellent video!

[@cemerson12]

The problem is projecting human concepts of sense (of taste, smell, sight) and the human concept of information processing (mental activity) onto other species rather than the other way around. As covered at around 2:15 there are other ways of biologically responding to environmental inputs without mental processing. Only a small part of human reactions or pro-actions involve any real mental processing. That may say something about our understanding of what mental processing even is -> it may just be evolutionary developed interacting-with-the-environment mechanisms

[@joshaustin9119]

Every cell has its own intelligence

[@garyphillips725]

I hope Chamovitz really meant that he didn't mind stepping on grass or plants when it was a matter of course or simply necessary. I would hope that most people would avoid crushing any life form if it is a simple thing to avoid it and definitely not find satisfaction in the destruction. One of the factors in childhood development that leads toward bullying and aggression in adulthood is a lack of wonder and empathy toward nature which really should be nurtured by parents and society.

[@lordganesha7084]

yeah, and how will you keep on making wooden doors?

[@fluiditynz]

You guilty....vegetarian? omnivore? carnivore? You predate at the supermarket?

[@reverence4life88]

"Reverence for life"-if adopted en masse-would save the world! And going vegan. Sadly, humans are too unevolved and lacking in discipline to do this.

[@WillOfFiree]

Before creation comes destruction

[@bigcity2085]

I let a large centipede out once, that I had found downstairs. I felt good that I let it live and watched it motor away back to where it belonged. Then I realized, that was wrong. I felt good because " I let" it live ? No. Who am I, God ? I don't "let" things live and then pat myself on the back. That's wrong. You just do it, because "killing automatically" of the little creatures, is not cool. We're all trained; you see a bug , a spider, you kill it without thinking. Took me a while to break that programming. It took a centipede. Now there is a glass and a coaster out, always, to let spiders out. I sense they know, I;m not going to kill them. They're just going for a ride.

[@Traderjoe]

Questions I had about this interview are, are there inter species communication between various plants? When the plant detects a pollinator, how quickly is it able to change its nectar to entice the pollinator? He mentioned that plants on either side react to the presence of a destructive beetle, is there a differentiation between plants of their own kind or is there any indication if there are changes in response to the beetle among plants of a different variety?

[@peterkunley]

8:14 I love your channel and your audience, I'm gonna comment on ALL your videos for years until I reach your level of subscribers.

[@peterschaefer1665]

Fascinating, thanks guys!

[@ilyaprorok7]

Beautiful stuff ❤

[@lotus.b.lazuli2020]

All life has a mind, I simply cannot fathom how it could be any other way. If you 'know' something, your mind is telling you that you 'know' that particular thing. I think as a human species, we seriously need to disassociate the 'mind' with 'brain'.

[@Kritiker313]

Dear Mr. Kuhn, Watching this episode about sentient plants, I'd rather think I'd found the end of the Internet than hear you report tomorrow that this was your final installment of Closer to Truth. 🙂On a serious note, I'm glad you covered this topic. I enjoyed it!

[@dosgos]

That was an interesting interview! I bet Daniel is an avid gardener.

[@SoulDelSol]

I give my plants consistency, consistent predictable schedules with light/dark, temperatures, and watering. I've had many for 15 years and they've grown enormous in my house. They're everywhere. I also put lots of different types near each other so they can compete and that seems to spur growth. Eventually they all find their spots in sun and share and none lose out

[@jord1242]

Mowing the lawn just becomes a green-bath.

[@bigcity2085]

Thank you for the new perspective and knowledge. Who knew ? This was great.

[@subtlesuplex2394]

Fascinating!

[@helisoma]

for hearing as requiring an evolutionary basis i would suggest the frequencies associated with approaching storms

[@shaikhraisuddin4878]

The first question is, "What is Sentience?" The second question is, "How to detect sentience in anything?"

[@Bill..N]

Very good interview.. "Sentience" is not an overly vague word like the word "consciousness" certainly is, but AWARENESS is more precise.. Yes indeed, plants have an obvious awareness of their environment.. One opinion.

[@lordganesha7084]

wow, this got me man, thank you for the comment

[@sven888]

They can feel who loves them for sure.

[@Bill..N]

@sven888 I agee friend.. If anyone has a weak garden or house plant, it is virtually certain the reason is a LACK of attention.. Simple enough and common knowledge as well.. I am convinced that

[@Bill..N]

That they are far more complex than science realizes..(yet)..peace.

[@SolveEtCoagula93]

'Awareness' is still vague. Traffic lights have an 'awareness' of road traffic. But so what?

[@lisac.9393]

Super interesting!

[@DeCamJ]

awesome!

[@_Mach3]

Great video! @3:29 has this chemical ever been observed? Also, why say “smelling” ? Could it also be a different form of communication?

[@seebasschipman293]

Smelling is just the process of observing volatile chemicals with our nose. Why not say smelling?

[@chrisgriffiths2533]

Life on Earth, Truely Amazing.

[@realtalk5329]

Anything that can feel is conscious and has a soul

[@PetraKann]

I am getting hold of Chamovitz's book. Fascinating stuff

[@kumar2ji]

Amazing

[@EugeneKhutoryansky]

Plants have the ability to react to an outside stimulus, such as responding with a chemical defense when they are being eaten by insects. However, even a brain dead human will respond in the same way, in that the body will exhibit a chemical defense when doctors try to harvest the organs for donation. However, without a functioning brain, there is no pain or consciousness present. The same is most likely true in the case of plants.

[@sven888]

The brain acts as a veil. The purpose of the veil is love. Blessings to you brother.

[@DJAK47u]

Phototrophism is interesting. When the sun hits the surface of a plant, it ammasses a quick growth and expansion hormone called auxin to the reverse side that is in the shade. When it acts, it makes the plant grow towards the light. This is also the same system it uses to find "up". If the plant is laid down horizontally, auxin percolates down with gravity growing the lower side of the stem faster than the side on top. This causes it to bend upwards and point up. To say it is conscious or sentient is indubitable. Yet very different from our own.

[@mahesh125773]

too good topic is close to my heart.

[@michael-4k4000]

What does Dr. Terrance Howard have to say on this subject?????

[@_Mach3]

11:46 could that be that because when we listen to the music we like we feel good and the plants sense or smell that. Isn’t there a study with speaking to plants negatively and then another plan positivity and the ones that got the positive reinforcement did better? Not sure if that was a real experiment tho.

[@jimliu2560]

A plant that “knows” but can’t run away is useless…! Also “Knowing” is different from “Reacting to a feed-back-mechanism”…..

[@Rosiedelaroux]

Yes

[@melgross]

He walks back a lot of this in his first couple of sentences. There’s one thing of having a way of chemically interacting with its environment, and being sentient, which means something entirely different.

[@simonkemeid]

But where is the plant's memory "stored"? Or does it need to be stored? And does that mean that a certain plant can predict, maybe the sun's patterns, the weather? In other words, for a plant, do these phenomena have meaning and value?

[@CoopAssembly]

Can we pick up defenses from smells?

[@anthonybrett]

Physarum can literally solve mazes and use historical prediction. They certainly fit William James definition of intelligence - delaying gratification to achieve a goal.

[@user-if1ly5sn5f]

The plants are more hearing than you understand. Look at the hairs all over, it’s not just like hairs on our arm, same as hairs in our ears. The signal is transferred once the vibration is felt. Hearing is just feeling, same with light, feeling the changes and measuring the distance and seeing the relative.

[@sirgerbilmacintosh9101]

I'm skeptical...

[@esorse]

Mum swung for a thousand year living Spanish tree in Botanical Gardens Sydney beside the local art gallery, who could have the same rate of change as us after accounting for scale.

[@WillyoDee]

Pretty sure all of these points could be emulated by an Arduino. And I don't think there is a debate over whether that is sentient. It's still an interesting debate regarding plants though

[@NicholasWilliams-uk9xu]

EXACTLY. Plants can't move location, therefore they need a lot of genes so that they can perform many differential strategies for survival, this leads to natural selection favoring a larger genome that supports these many chemical sensory detection mechanisms. Animals can move away from danger, which favors a streamlined genome that maximizes skeletal muscular control, symmetric proportions. Meaning when a environmental pressure is met, the animal can move out of the way, without needing many different mechanisms to change it's growth trajectory, a plant has to change growth pattern to adapt (it can't move location) larger genes are needed.

[@chyfields]

Just prior to my local village fair, held in a nearby meadow surrounded by trees, the trees seem to quiver with anticipation and excitement. Sometimes their excitement is so great that it pisses with rain on the day of the fair.

[@d.r.tweedstweeddale9038]

Get help!

[@ianwebb9859]

I have heard that plants actually do have receptors for sound which are stimulated by bird noises in the morning and cause them to open their stomata

[@ThePeople314]

Interesting.

[@ameralbadry6825]

Thank you 🙏 This answers my question when I mentioned this in one of my comments about consciousness when a linguistic jerk popped up

[@Divyv520]

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[@reverence4life88]

I practice "reverence for life" (Dr. Albert Schweitzer, 1915), and believe that one should not harm other life (even non-sentient). But to say that plants are sentient is just ridiculous. To be sentient, a being needs a nervous system and nociceptors (and probably a brain), and plants do not have any of these. They simply respond in a stimulus and response manner. Still, we should respect their existence and not unnecessarily harm them. Reverence for life is a spiritual practice that could save the world, if humans only had the sense and discipline to embrace it.

[@mattpiper5278]

Plants know, but they don’t know that they know. Big difference.

[@qrious786]

How do you know?

[@_Mach3]

Nobody knows anything. We hypothesize lol

[@dahawk8574]

13:44 - The most important aspect of this issue is relegated to the final seconds of this clip. He gives an answer, yet absolutely no explanation as to the reason *WHY* he has no reservations when stepping on plants.

[@tomtomy8702]

Funny like the interviewer on many occasions is trying to dig deeper into the mechanism behind those senses and is never really heard. Great interview regardless, but it's like talking about new features of an iPhone and never really explaining in deep how is the hardware and software done behind them features

[@magicmjk09]

No doubt there are complexities and wonderful mechanisms in plant biology that are less known to us, but something that seems a bit incorrect to me is utilizing the terms like "know" and "see". It seems that Chamovitz concluded the existence of subjectivity in plants, purely based on behavioral observations. For instance, if a camera receives light, and based on that changes the aperture (or any other task for that matter), we usually don't use the verb "see" to describe it, as it is a solely mechanical and electrical (or chemical) process that is kind of automatic without the involvement of experience.

[@lordganesha7084]

Exactly. First of all they do not suffer. Plants lack nervous system, brain, or pain receptors. Sentience involves the capacity for subjective experiences, which plants lack due to the absence of the mentioned.

[@mikewiest5135]

Agree. On the other hand did you know the same volatile anesthetics that make us unconscious also stop motility in single-celled organisms and plants like Venus flytraps…!

[@qrious786]

Did you watch the whole video? If they can communicate internally without a nervous system, have memory without brain and can feel touch without nerves or receptors the​n what's keeping them from feeling pain? @@lordganesha7084

[@qrious786]

I have been observing plants at my home for many years and I feel they have some subjective experience no matter how minute and limited. Just like a human is behind a camera seeing through it, a plant has some sentience (life force) utilizing parts of it to achieve its life goals (surviving and reproducing).

[@magicmjk09]

@@qrious786 It's fascinating to think about and probably have some truth in it. But it's an open debate since one can observe the behaviors of a system that are directed towards maximizing its survival chance, yet argue that all of it is just chemical, mechanical and electrical activities, completely knowable but void of any sentience. Like in single celled organisms as an example.

[@Graybeard_]

6:38 Mr. Chamovitz really didn't want to answer how plants bend to the light. I think Mr. Kuhn was seeking understanding as to the processes involved with a plant physically moving in an arc of 40+ degrees over the course of a solar day. A plant doesn't have muscles or ligaments. Are individual cells expanding or contracting using water, hydraulics perhaps?

[@helisoma]

the only reason we have a nervous system is speed...our cells need to communicate and respond on much faster time scales than plants, since we are mobile

[@sebastianb-v2887]

I now have greater appreciation for the show Between Two Ferns.

[@chrisstump9722]

Why make nectar at all if there is no pollenater

[@patientson]

The entire world is memory itself. Only the gifted observe and develop.

[@thebrightsideok]

Best video I have seen on this channel.

[@meesalikeu]

meh - in jr hs i did the classic vs rock experiment and the former grew twice as better. i took it to be a preference for the differing vibrations of the speakers, not really the music itself. whatever it was it was very real and yes i had a neutral plant that m’s growth was right in the middle. 🎉

[@danielandrews7561]

I'd take the question a step further: do plants have SOULS??? Mycelia is the nervous system connecting them all, and unifying ALL Earthbound life!!! Should each planet that hosts life be identified by its own unique mycelia?

[@OBGynKenobi]

The real question is what does "know" really mean.

[@termsofusepolice]

Now when someone calls me dumb as a potted plant I can take it as a compliment.

[@S3RAVA3LM]

10:47 snot

[@SonOfKong33]

Consciousness is way more prevalent than most realize....Rupert Sheldrake talked about the Sun being conscious. I think wherever there's electromagnetic activity there is consciousness.....

[@patientson]

Daniel, you are now my friend. Say no more

[@HarshLoomba]

Im so happy that this topic was touched. I have been more sensetive towards plants and did feel that they hear us. Probably much more intelligent to survive and adapt in any circumstances. Very interesting talk indeed.

[@d.r.tweedstweeddale9038]

Get help now!

[@joshaustin9119]

How do woodland people (all over the world) know which plants to use for medicine? Often the plants "speak" to them

[@NoeticEidetics]

There are many ways in which humans also merely “know” things. There are degrees and senses of knowing.

[@RogerioLupoArteCientifica]

11:50 "music and plants have no evolutionary connection"... well, if you think about it, neither plants nor humans have. Why do we even have preference and attraction for harmony and tune? You can hypothesize a lot about "tune in the mother's voice" or whatever, but nothing can convince me that evolution brought us to having a preference for some harmonic transitions, some modulations and some tunes. Moreover, animals also would not have an evolutionary connection to music, but most musicians know how domesticated or wild animals can be deeply attracted to music, and stop to hear it. There's something else to music and musical taste that evolution seems unable to explain. I don't think everything needs to make evolutionary sense. Not everything evolves for a reason.

[@skippdiddly1409]

Makes me want to hug the tree out front.

[@sven888]

Yes, it is good. Or simply say "i love you" once in a while. They are happy when you feel that. Not just trees. Stars. Everything.

[@xploration1437]

Keep it platonic.

[@sven888]

@@xploration1437 It's all good.

[@casper191985]

@@sven888are you into spirituality?

[@sven888]

@@casper191985 I believe we are different in life for a very good reason.

[@johnc4957]

Bro this plant man is the professor Oak of biologists.

[@saeiddavatolhagh9627]

By extension not just animals and plants but everything that exists must be sentient at some level.

[@thesjkexperience]

Plants also use the mycelium network to communicate.

[@chriscrumly]

Searching for souls and sentience in plants is clearly closer to dissonance than it is closer to truth.

[@sven888]

Truth is One (Rig Veda). It is just that it is not good to be alone (Genesis 2:18). God('s purpose) is Love (1 John).

[@Jack-gn4gl]

Should try ayahuasca or dmt made from root bark,they communicate on a level that will absolutely blow your mind

[@sven888]

@@Jack-gn4gl Everything is sentient indeed. Plants will be sad and whither when the owner is sad or stressed.

[@youbewb5581]

So mowing the lawn is mass-disfigurement?

[@KH-rc1fn]

in many ways plants are more advanced than human or any other animals,they can produce their own food,we cant.thats a clear sign of more advancement in evolution. and i think memory is not only related to just brain cells,its related to all cells.

[@profskmehta]

Plants sense touch, sound, smell, and light. They have small amount of Emory. Can we conclude that plants have mind without brain?

[@browngreen933]

It suggests that intelligent consciousness might not need a nervous system either.

[@anthonybrett]

Michael Levin has literally found evidence of this at the cellular level. He essentially posits and has good scientific evidence that suggests any entity made of cells is a hive intelligence, like an ant colony.

[@howardrobinson4938]

Why does a plant bend toward the light? The guests answer, "Because it wants to employ photosynthesis..." Notice the language he uses, "it wants to". No, it doesn't WANT to. It just does. Along with all of the other things mentioned that it does to survive. This whole presentation by the guest was one big anthropomorphizing exercise. Now THAT was impressive.

[@WA3TTS1]

I am Groot !

[@koicaine1230]

Cats can hear plants screaming ❤

[@janyakov7655]

in this part is propagate teleologic principe.

[@gregbrown5020]

Yes, I'm aware of plants

[@shaccooper4828]

You asked his 6 times how does this happen and he dodged the question and responded to how he wanted until you stopped asking

[@patientson]

Light is strength. The sun is your life as a human being. Source apollos and the zeus. In Hades, there is a water source.

[@sven888]

Truth is One (Rig Veda). It is just that it is not good to be alone (Genesis 2:18). Hence: God('s purpose) is Love (1 John).

[@King311___]

I identify as a lucious green plant with a thin stem 🌱

[@Kritiker313]

From an evolutionary point of view, what does a venus fly trap want with a fly?

[@peweegangloku6428]

Plants do not "know," they are programed to respond to signals as robots are. Plants are endowed with multiplicity of well engineered sensors. Plants are a link between inorganic matters and animal life.

[@pedrova8058]

"program" implies an a priori purpose, as if it were part of an intelligent design. That's teleology, like the basic mechanicism that biologists proclaimed in the early last century, influenced by the idea of ​​divine creation (prior to evolution theory development)

[@sdmarlow3926]

Ther is nothing there to "know" anything. Until it can be shown that what happens in the plant world is anything more than stimulus-responee, we should avoid talking about sentuient (and esp conscious) plants.

[@priscillawillis1969]

People already know that

[@panmichael5271]

The more jarring question is: are the majority of people on this planet sentient? Because I find them to be rather overly robotic and unthinking!

[@willp9226]

Basically, the majority are ignorant.

[@lordganesha7084]

@@willp9226 and you're part of the enlightened minority, right? can you prove it?

[@ct00001]

The majority of us are unintelligent. The rest of us are more prone to depression and all manner of self-delusion. Intelligence is a self-limiting system. Those of us most fit for survival are likely not the most intelligent.

[@jimliu2560]

Where is your Nobel-prize ?

[@willp9226]

@@lordganesha7084 What reason or cause do you suggest for all the needless suffering in the world? Other than the ignorance of the multitudes?

[@shirk_slayer]

Now I will feel even more guilty when I thin seedlings in my garden.

[@peterjeffery8495]

These forums from a certain perspective involve highly educated people struggling to become FGO-ISTS, i.e. those who have the ability to Fundamentally Grasp The Obvious. Any living creature that adapts to its environment in concert with other living organisms is part of some kind of universal consciousness that make life alive. Again, who or what writes the code and how?

[@angusgus123]

The discourse around questions of awareness, sentience, consciousness etc is becoming deeply confused. I appreciate what the interviewee is trying to do here but it’s adding to the confusion

[@darkpatches]

3:11 To this day, Paul McCartney and Ringo won't perform in the forest.

[@nokratata7335]

This guy said "there is a randomality" with a straight face

[@nokratata7335]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnfchpeYqs90Zsk

[@MusingsFromTheJohn00]

Of course plants are sentient, intelligent, aware, and conscious, including have intelligent intent to intelligent actions taken. All life from viruses up have these traits. Virus level swarm intelligence is used as a sub-system in cellular swarm intelligence (no neurological systems). Cellular swarm intelligence without neurological systems is a sub-system for neurological swarm intelligence. Human level intelligence is using all the types of lower swarm intelligence if less intelligent life within the more advanced human mind.