Do plants actually have feelings?

Question

Do plants "feel" the pain of other plants?

Answer 1

Yes. Indian Scientist Dr. Jagadishchandra Bose invented a instrument named crescograph & did many experiments on plants.
The great biologist, who showed those plants, too can feel in their own way. He saved money:he bought a small laboratory and built his equipment; and scientists in Europe and America wondered at his discoveries. A true patriot and a great man.
Suppose there is a lush green plant and its leaves are a sparkling green in the shining sunlight. We feel like pulling out a leaf to feel it. But we do not think of what goes on inside the plant. May be, we feel that the plant does not suffer like us. But the plant does suffer. In fact the pulsation of the plant stops where the leaf was plucked. In a short time the pulsation again begins at the spot, but this time very slowly. And then it completely stops. That spot is as good as dead for the plant.

It was Jagadishchandra Bose, an eminent Indian scientist, who explained that plants also suffer pain like us. Though he wored in other fields of science, he is best know for his research into the life of plants.

He forwarded a theory for the ascent of sap in plants in 1927, his theory contributed to the vital theory of ascent of sap. According to his theory the pumping action of the living cells in the endodermis junction were responsible for the ascent of sap in plants.

He was skeptical about the the-then most popular theory in ascent of sap, the tension-cohesion theory of Dixon and Joly, first proposed in 1894. His skepticism on the same turned true when Canny proposed the most successful 'The CP theory' backed by strong experimental evidence. Canny experimentally demonstrated the sort of pumping in the living cells in the junction of the endodermis, which JC Bose demonstrated 60 years earlier.

His research in plant stimuli were pioneering, he showed with the help of his newly invented crescograph that plants responded to various stimuli as if they had nervous systems like that of animals. He therefore found a parallelism between animal and plant tissues.

His experiments showed that plants grow faster in pleasant music and its growth retards in noise or harsh sound. This was experimentally verified later on. His major contribution in the field of biophysics was the demonstration of the electrical nature of the conduction of various stimuli (wounds, chemical agents) in plants, which were earlier thought to be of chemical in nature. These claims were experimentally proved by *Wildon et al (Nature, 1992, 360, 62–65). He also studied for the first time action of microwaves in plant tissues and corresponding changes in the cell membrane potential, mechanism of effect of seasons in plants, effect of chemical inhibitor on plant stimuli, effect of temperature etc,. And all studies were pioneering. He claimed that plants can "feel pain, understand affection etc," from the analysis of the nature of variation of the cell membrane potential of plants, under different circumstances. According to him a plant treated with care and affection gives out a different vibration compared to a plant subjected to torture.
Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937), physicist, plant physiologist, and founder of the Bose Research Institute in Calcutta. He was one of the first to find a link between botanical and physical sciences. His Crescograph could detect plant growth of one-millionth of a millimetre of a second. In 1899, he invented the Coherer, an early radio receiver that was the model for Marconi's wireless of 1901.

Dr. Bose expounded on the 'nervous mechanism' of plants - the ability of plants to recognize and react to the individual who has committed an act of violence (particularly toward a plant) in their 'presence'. He studied other plant topics, including photosynthesis.

Answer 2

Jagdish Chandra Bose Plant Research

Answer 3

Someone actually tried doing this in an experiment years back. The plant was fitted with sensors, much like the ECG machine and monitored. And there were readings variation when being watered or having a leaf plucked or put in different simulated weather condition. This sort of indicate that the plant could be feeling itself and its surrounding.

Have not come across any more articles to supplement this since.

Oh more recent ones are the aura photos of plant which shows that it has something, like life.

Answer 4

That's a great question

Answer 5

Praveen ranjan Chaudhary, "feelings" does not mean "reaction to stimuli". "Feelings" means "emotions". Yes, plants react to pain, but do they get angsty if you hurt them?

Answer 6

It's possible for sure

Answer 7

People who believe in Kirlian photography claim that plants will react negatively to people just thinking, anticipating cutting them. I think it's bunk, but hey. You never know. Makes me want to go out and mow the lawn!

Answer 8

Heh heh. No. There was a bogus experiment in the 1970s that tried to show that houseplants "shivered" in response to an experimenter who was chopping vegetables. It was a fraud and a hoax. Plants have no neural tissue, and therefore no feelings of empathy or anything else.

Answer 9

Yes! all living things actually has a feeling, they can feel thier invironment and sorroundings... And plant is a living things...

Answer 10

No. And this answer is comming from a person who works with them. But then again... it depends on the environment that they are in. If it's too cold they will freeze to death, if it's too hot they burn to death, if it's too moist they will rot to death. But if it is just right they will thrive and live on. So I guess they do have feelings for the environment only.