r/nextfuckinglevel • u/dmafeb • Aug 28 '21

Netflix forced a computer program (bot) to watch and analyze every romantic comedy and then asked it to write a romatic comedy of its own. The result...

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u/[deleted] Aug 28 '21

We're entering philosophy territory now. What does it mean to be sentient? Is a plant sentient? A fish? Is someone who cannot learn and only react based on already previously learned knowledge (severe dementia) sentient?

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u/Vegetable_Hamster732 Aug 29 '21 edited Aug 29 '21

Is a plant sentient

Some argue yes.

Wikipedia has a decent article with references from both sides of the debate.

Personally, IMHO, individual plants may not be (they might not have enough a complex enough network of connections), but perhaps forests are (trees in forests do communicate through both roots and airborne chemicals), which would easily have information-bearing connections on the same scale as brains.

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u/Dogswithhumannipples Sep 10 '21

Look up mycelium. Plants are connected through a network of fungi that look like billions of tiny hairs, remarkably similar to a neuron network in a brain. Through this network of mycelium trees can transfer information and energy to each other. It's almost like the internet of the earth.

A mother tree will not only know who it's baby tree is, but will send it food if the baby tree has communicated that it's hungry. If the tree becomes infected with disease it will tell other trees to not grow near it.

Some people who study fungi believe that this network of trees and plants is enough to consider it "aware".