At what point did human beings realize that plants are living things?

Question

Was there any debate about whether plants are alive in the same sense that animals are? How did ancient cultures define life?

Answer 1

The pivotal moment when plants became "alive" was...


During the 1960's when the widespread use of LSD in the hippie community began to shape peoples thinking about the meaning of life.

Prior to that era, plants were simply raised and eaten.

Vegetation has always been known to have a life cycle where seed sprouts into plant, matures and goes back to seed. It is a life cycle mimicked by human existance.

So it begs the question, are plants alive, or is man simply a smart vegetable?




g-day!

Answer 2

I don't know about West, But in the East, 10,000 years ago. Hindus have their ancient scriptures like Vedas which were so advanced. Nothing like that existed in that time period. Vedas mentions all the living things including plants. Even in 15th and 16 century, various other texts were written in the East which give value to plants and consider them Living things.

Answer 3

Modern man is completely severed from the natural world....even those who buzz out to the woods, in their SUV for a hike...
we fear nature...and have striven to cover it with concrete in the 20 th C. and into the 21st C.

early cultures were able to feel the energy that plants produced...we feel plastic....

Answer 4

aritotle defined them as having a life principle in 300 BC

Answer 5

When we started eating them, followed by planting to grow more.

Answer 6

IDK about ancient cultures, but a renaissance-era scientist named Josehp Mendel figured out plants areliving beings when be did the experiment with a plants, rats, and a glass jar. plant dies alone (no co2) rat dies alone (no oxygen) but together they live in the jar

Answer 7

If it wasn't realized by the time we were hunter-gatherers it seems like by the time agriculture was developed it would have been.