What if we find talking plants?

Question

What if we come across a world in which animals never evolved beyond single cell organisms, sponges and other simpler animals, but the plants on this world have evolved to be become the dominant life much like on Earth? And on this world plants where able to do this because they where able to not only use photosynthesis but also take in large amounts of nutrients because the could exploit the energy with in lesser plants. And say on this world a race plants had evolved to be just as advanced as us. This world we could say was the mirror image of plant and animal life of our own( imagine 60 foot sponges towering above instead of oaktrees), and the plant people of this world had a sect of persons who thought it was morally wrong that plants feed on other plants and claimed that doing such was murder. In fact these plant-folk exclaimed that true moral virtue was in eating a soley animal based diet and that the use of plants as pets, food, clothing ect.. was wrong.

How would vegans view these people? How would their counterpart carnivore only sect view vegans?

moving plants that think are plants not animals, and as to being too small to eat? well whales eat tiny lil krill all day and seem to being just fine.

i never left out photosynthesis, its mentioned and as we know plants live off more then rays from the sun. even here on this lil blue rock we have plants such as the flytrap that take a more active role the just taking nurtients form the soil.

plants feed on other plants now through compost or parasitic means now along with decaying animal matter as well, but in this world plant people(fully aware just like ourselves) would raise animals "gardens" , maybe of urchins, sponges or tube worms but also the plants that take on the roles that animals do here(sheep cattle bears, ect..) would be raised in ranches of plant 'livestock'. so instead of furry lil mice running about; this world could have smal spikey plants that ran around and fed off corals or any of the other animals. and where plant people had herds of animal grazing plants that where used much lilke cattle here.

and form an evolutionary stand point plants that could harness energy by 'hunting' down other plants to add to their own energy pool would have more time to devolope such great things as plant cave art and airplanes.

Answer 1

What if, What if, What if?

What if we find a world where humans are enslaved by cows and raped to make babies which would be fried up in pans while the moms are pumped full of weird chemicals and hormones to make them produce 40 times more milk then they did for the baby that was eaten?

Answer 2

In this world, let's call it Plantopia, plants are dominant sentient species? Ok, so in this hypothetical situation, Plantopia plants = Earth animals in intelligence and cognition.

This would also mean that Earth plants = Plantopia animals?

No problem. If Plantopia animals had no nervous system, no pain receptors, and were not sentient, there would be no problem eating them. If the Plantopia plants had a nervous system, pain receptors, and were sentient, there would be a problem eating them.

Now, all this applies to 'humane' vegetarians and vegans. People who choose not to eat dead animals (or live ones) because it is morally and/or ethically wrong.

Those who view meat as bad for health reasons, assuming that Plantopia animals are still 'meat' and Plantopia plants are still 'plants' nutritionwise, they would have an interesting decision to make. Those who are 100% health oriented may choose to eat Plantopia plants instead of the Plantopia animals.

Simply changing the names and a little bit of the parameters doesn't change the ethics of the situation.

Answer 3

I'm assuming these plant people had evolved a conscious; an ability to think and reason. And a conscious beyond wildness. Also knowing that they can create their own food, the fact that they eat other plants doesn't make sense. You used the word "exploit". And that is what they would be doing. Taking energy, they don't need to take to survive, from those that do. More and easier doesn't make it right.

Now if these "lesser plants" were just like the plants on Earth (no brain, consciousness or nervous system) I think they would be ethically fine to consume.

I also think that if a vegan could make his/her own food through photosynthesis, they would just use that. Vegetarians don't believe in causing harm to anything with a brain and/or nervous system.

Answer 4

I don't think it matters. "Plant" and "animal" are only labels many veg*ns find convenient to describe things they are comfortable or uncomfortable eating.

My opinion is that sentient beings have a right to live and not be used in any way by humans. On this plane of existence, it's easy to use "animals" as shorthand because that's all that that definition describes. If there were another place where that definition applied to other sorts of life, I think they would be just as worthy of protection and rights as animals and people.

I think that any of the carnivores on that planet, if they had a good theoretical underpinning for their ideas, would feel the same way about our plants and animals.

Sentience is key, not labels.

Answer 5

If we ever stumbled upon talking plants, then I would eat them while they're talking to me because I'm hungry....they're boring....and besides....I'm hungry. Unless of course they have an evil overlord that will send his/her talking plant people to come and destroy the human race for eating their family members....and the talking ones that came here earlier that I ate....and they just take over as though they rule or something....yeaaaaaaaaaa.... that is what would happen if we ever stumbled upon talking plants.....yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Answer 6

1. you said that the animals "never evolved beyond single cell organisms, sponges and other simpler animals." Am quite perplexed at how they would eat an only animal based diet if the animals that did exist were too small for the most part to live off of.

2. The very fact these "plants" are sentient or able to interact meaningfully in their world (move about unassisted) means that by our definitions these creatures you speak of are animals, not plants.

That said, I liked your question, it was undoubtedly original and amusing. But, pointless as a hypothetical for the reasons above.

To try and answer you question as it stands, I would not oppose such a society, my problem with animal use is based in an animals sentience, or ability to suffer. If, as you alluded the "animals" did not evolve past sponges then the "animals" they eat are non-sentient and unable to have an interest in not being used as a resource. from an abolitionist animal rights perspective (such as mine) this presents no issues under your limited hypothetical as it currently stands.

Edit: Even with your additions my answer still stands, for the reasons stated above. You give me no reason to belive that these "animals" are sentient, so I have no concern over them being used.

Answer 7

Just to long to read.
Just to answer the (what if we find talking plant's?)
My boss never shuts his mouth !

Answer 8

If plants start talking i will bow to them and their dark overlord and they will enslave us all and devour us for eating their people!

Answer 9

If you find talking plants, then you ate the wrong pill...

Answer 10

I'm sorry, what happened to photosynthesis in this extremely possible alternative world?