Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by gerritd
Briljant groen: de intelligentie van planten by Stefano Mancuso, Allessandra Viola
4.0
A very interesting read. It has made me realize that I conflate "intelligence" with "consciousness". Although Mancuso suggests that plants can remember and learn things, he does not convincingly argue this case. This may be because the book is aimed at the general public and hence very technical details are not discussed. It also may be that, although Mancuso argues strongly against an animal-centric perspective on intelligence, I still have not sufficiently shed it.
The book does show that plants have amazing sensory capabilities and are able to actively respond to the data they gather about the world. The review of the varied senses and behaviours of plants is fascinating and demonstrates that plants really are not the passive organisms they are perceived to be.
They are able to detect problems and arrive at intelligent solutions, modifying their behaviour accordingly. In the absence of consciousness, I would suggest that this falls under the Dennet's "competence without comprehension" nomer. This is not to say that this signifies a significant divide between plants and animals and us. After all, most (or at least very much) of what we do is also not consciously comprehended and reasoned out.
Some of my disagreements may stem from the translation. The translation is less than perfect and has spelling errors (as an archaeologist I found the use of "bronstijd" where "bronsttijd" was meant most amusing), there is a lack of synonym-use making some sentences annoyingly repetitive.
Most problematic is that the meaning of the author may be distorted in some passages. Throughout the book, Mancuso argues that plants should be studied in light of evolution. The central thesis is that plants as passive organisms would have gone extinct long ago in Darwinian competition. Yet towards the end (p.133) the book states that Darwin realised that plants have capabilities that cannot be explained evolutionarily. This seems to represent a misunderstanding by the translator and leaves open the possibility that more subtle examples occur elsewhere in the book.
The book does show that plants have amazing sensory capabilities and are able to actively respond to the data they gather about the world. The review of the varied senses and behaviours of plants is fascinating and demonstrates that plants really are not the passive organisms they are perceived to be.
They are able to detect problems and arrive at intelligent solutions, modifying their behaviour accordingly. In the absence of consciousness, I would suggest that this falls under the Dennet's "competence without comprehension" nomer. This is not to say that this signifies a significant divide between plants and animals and us. After all, most (or at least very much) of what we do is also not consciously comprehended and reasoned out.
Some of my disagreements may stem from the translation. The translation is less than perfect and has spelling errors (as an archaeologist I found the use of "bronstijd" where "bronsttijd" was meant most amusing), there is a lack of synonym-use making some sentences annoyingly repetitive.
Most problematic is that the meaning of the author may be distorted in some passages. Throughout the book, Mancuso argues that plants should be studied in light of evolution. The central thesis is that plants as passive organisms would have gone extinct long ago in Darwinian competition. Yet towards the end (p.133) the book states that Darwin realised that plants have capabilities that cannot be explained evolutionarily. This seems to represent a misunderstanding by the translator and leaves open the possibility that more subtle examples occur elsewhere in the book.