On 3/30/10 13:13 , Joe from Kokomo wrote:

On 3/30/10 08:40 , Kevin Alfred Strom wrote:
Joe from Kokomo wrote:

[...]
Plants have feelings too, ya know. How would -you- like to be mowed
down in the prime of life?
[...]


I know of no credible evidence that plants possess a consciousness.


With all good wishes,


Kevin, WB4AIO.

D. Peter Maus wrote:

There were numerous studies released during the 60's and 70's
detailing the experiments where plants were demonstrated to respond to
kind talk, soft music, even specific genre's of music.

I believe you are referring to the so-called (and yet to be proven)
"Backster Effect".


In part. Also the work of Jagdish Chandra Bose who proposed the
concept of a plant nervous system, recording spasmodic responses to
shock taxis in plants around 1900.

We did experiments at university with some mimosa-like plants
that responded to the touch by folding their leaves. Loud and shrill
sounds also produced the same response, although not consistently.
And not in all plants under test. We attributed that to the plant's
response mechanism responding to some vibrations, in amplitude and
requency, as touch.

Bose also claimed to have found that plants grew more quickly in
the presence of soft music and more slowly when exposed to harsh
sound. From this, he posited that plants had central nervous systems
that could feel pain, perceive and return affection, and interpret
intents, and respond to them. Bose's research involved
interpretation of changes in cell membranes under various taxes.

These studies, which took place near the turn of the century,
were the bases for many of the studies which surfaced in the 60's
and 70's tha recommended corn be grown under the gentle strains of
Debussey played over huge PA systems in the fields, and the
affection of farmers walking through their fields reciting poetry.

May we live in interesting times.