MadSci Network: Botany |
I've wrestled with these questions since I saw videos on the net of the cruelty inflicted on amimals in many slaughterhouses. (There's a video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIjanhKqVC4, but WARNING, IT'S GRAPHIC). I became vegan to avoid contributing to the pain that I think those animals are probably feeling. It's been sugested to me, however, that plants might feel pain as well, causing me to wonder if there's a point in being vegan after all. I've read in many places (including here at madsci) that plants don't have nervous systems, but someone asked me how they respond to light, predators, and other aspects of their environment without nervous systems and I admit I don't know. So my questions are: 1. What are the chances that plants can feel pain? 2. If plants can feel pain, would a vegan contribute to more or less plants suffering as compared to someone who eats both meat and plants (I know animals eat plants to, but I would think that if one were to measure it, they would probably find that vegans eat more plants to replace the meat they don't eat and meat eaters eat less vegetables because they can get the same amount of food by eating some meat instead). 3. In what ways to plants respond to their environment and how do they do so without a nervous system (assuming what I've read about them not having a nervous system is true). If they can't "know", for instance, that a predator is eating them (as in being able to think "ow, someone's eating me, I'd better fight back") how are they able to respond at the right time? I'm afraid I've obsessed over these questions because I want to do what I think is right, and knowing the right answers to the questions would help give me some peace of mind.
Re: Plants suffer? Vegan = less/more plants suffer? How do plants respond?
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