A Simple Explanation of Groupthink

My friend. Consider this article an invitation to take a deep breath and relax a bit. I am writing to you because my heart is saddened by your current level of anger, fear, and confusion. 

There is a primal level of angst in the land, with ever-deepening divisions. Our political meme chords are hardening into a primitive form of brutish tribalism through the force of rhetoric and propaganda. If we aren't careful, violence will increasingly replace vitriol. My friend, this is not the American way.

"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one." [Charles Mackay, 1841, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds"]

Negative effects of groupthink on teamwork, Dale Carnegie Institute

Let's talk about "groupthink" for a minute. Groupthink is when individuals stop thinking for themselves and adopt memes that are held and propagated by the group as a whole. Grouppthink occurs, for example, when you read an article or a facebook post and believe everything in it, no matter how outrageous, and then endorse it with a thumbs-up and send it on to your friends. Contrast that with coming across the same information and weighing it rationally, using due diligence to verify claims and consider opposing arguments, and then endorsing or rejecting the memes, irrespective of who said what. Not nearly as much fun, is it?

Groupthink memes rely upon mass delusion for energy; and the end result is never good. Oftentimes, groupthink memes would be literally unthinkable if it were not for the influence of the group over personal will. Mob violence is a perfect example of groupthink--no one in their right mind would pick up a stone and throw it at their neighbor for no reason whatsoever... were it not for the fact that twenty other neighbors were already throwing stones at the poor soul.

The particular groupthink I'm concerned with in this article has to do with your enthusiastic endorsement of political and economic philosophies you know nothing about in your effort to speak truth to power. Have you actually studied world history? Do you understand the effect of various political and economic memes on societies in the past or halfway around the world? Do you have a working knowledge of economics? I think it's safe to say that few of my friends have studied these subjects in depth. (Of course, out there in the larger webiverse I know a few of you have, so don't take offense.) All I'm saying is now that social media and the web have given voice and influence to any fool with a cellphone, it's more important than ever to do your research. 

Now, let's imagine our country is a large organization that needs to function well in order to survive and prosper so that we all may reap the benefits. Surely, that is a goal we all share.

Consider the following advice for overcoming groupthink, from Dale Carnegie Institute's article, "The Curse of Teamwork: Groupthink":

• Create an organizational environment where individuals can freely voice their ideas, challenges, and concerns. Individuals must feel comfortable with taking interpersonal risks, admitting hesitations, and challenging one-another. Absent an inclination to avoid conflict, a team can easily discuss and debate different perspectives.
• Think about the right information required to make sound decisions. Consider the strongest counter-argument to every idea.
• Do not suppress disagreements or dominate the dissenters. Carefully examine the reasons and implications of alternate viewpoints.
• Divide a team into sub-teams or partnerships and set each sub-team to work on a problem independently. Encourage them to take into account the plusses and the minuses of each idea. [endquote]

Now think about this: have you really stopped to consider the other side of the political debate? Have you really tried to see why half of your neighbors disagree with your position? Can you explain their memes in non-inflammatory language? In other words, do you understand what the adversary is saying and the facts behind their claims? If not, why not?  (One reason why not, as we all know by now, is due to the ideological filters social media platforms put on posts to keep us sorted into tidy categories. Another, self-selected, filter is the one-sided news channel you choose to watch.)

My brother, Dr. Bill Puett, used to share the following advice about critical thinking with his departing Philosophy students. Sounds a lot like Carnegie's anti-groupthink lesson.

"Other than your living a loving and compassionate life, I wish for you more than anything that you become autonomous. Be fully informed on all important matters and apply critical thinking before making choices. Regard no one as an authority, challenge all beliefs, but listen to others before reaching decisions. Before offering criticism, know an opposing position so well that you can argue it better than the opponent proposing it. In so doing, you may risk your own position. ..."

I think it is time for us to settle down and return to reason. Emotion, particularly fear and righteous indignation, is not getting us anywhere except upset. A steady diet of inflammatory rhetoric is ruining our faith in the nation. And it's not doing any favors for your health or mental well-being, either. Step One is stop feeding the fear. 

"We go out of our course to make ourselves uncomfortable; the cup of life is not bitter enough to our palate, and we distill superfluous poison to put into it, or conjure up hideous things to frighten ourselves at, which would never exist if we did not make them." [Charles Mackay, 1841, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds"]

Remember the Simple Explanation's Golden Rule:

Our job is to reach out to others with love, information, and assistance to build something greater than ourselves.

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Cyd Ropp has a Ph.D. in Rhetoric from The University of Memphis. Her specialty is meta-level analysis of ideological divides and their ultimate resolution. Buy the Simple Explanation book.

Process Note: Life Goes On -- Onstage at the Camelot Theatre

In September, 2018, Cyd starred as the prostitute "Miss Mona" in the musical, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." At the Camelot Theatre, in Talent, Oregon.

Lanny Horn as the Sheriff, with 

Cyd Ropp as Miss Mona

"The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" Camelot Theatre
photo: Steve Sutfin

This was Cyd Ropp’s first starring role since high school. Cyd returned to the stage after a 50-year hiatus in Randall Theatre’s 2017 production of “Young Frankenstein, the Musical,” staged here in Jacksonville. Now she hits the boards as Miss Mona, the Madame of the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Half drill-sergeant and half social director, Miss Mona rules her “ladies” with an iron glove.

Dr. Ropp retired to Jacksonville from academia in 2016, and has been writing her "Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything" blog since 2010. Cyd’s husband, Gary Ropp, passed away in July, one week before rehearsals for “Whorehouse” commenced. For Cyd, this was a bittersweet debut.

Miss Mona's costumes and wig

Cyd's right hip finally gave up the ghost during the last two performances of the show. We had to restage to accommodate Miss Mona with a cane.

"Live and Let Live" is the Democratic Ideal

I am reprinting this column about tolerance of those with whom you disagree. "Live and Let Live" is a meme that is absolutely central to a functioning democracy. Every American citizen is entitled by the law of this land to hold and express their opinions. It is only through exchange of information and assistance that the big jobs get done. Read on for the why's and how's:

The Simple Explanation's theory of memes uses the term "meme" to stand for a belief or a tidbit of knowledge. These memes are passed around to our friends like trading cards--most of our close friends hold the same meme cards we do; that's why they are our friends. The more memes you hold in common with someone else, the more you like them. The opposite is also true--we have a difficult time relating to people who hold a different set of memes.

Here is the bottom-line of the previous Apocalyptic Visions article:

The Simple Explanation suggests that "live and let live" would be a great meta-meme for everyone to adopt. If we could appreciate the fact that each of us has a unique perspective, then perhaps we could allow each other to hold the memes that make the most sense for our lives. This is my meme chord; that is your meme chord. If I don't like your meme chord then I can talk it over with you and see if we can move our meme chords closer to one another in agreement. If neither of us is able or willing to swap memes with the other, then so be it. Either accept the other person, memes and all, or move on. Find someone else who more closely agrees with your memes. There is enough room in this world for each of us to hold our own chords, but only if "live and let live" is an overarching meme.

We are now in the midst of a social epidemic of intolerance. Intolerance is the opposite of "live and let live." When we are intolerant of others' memes, we are declaring that our memes are correct and their memes are wrong. And then we take it a step further--we refuse to "tolerate" the others' memes. We throw up resistance, we throw up roadblocks, we close our ears and refuse to listen to the other. We do not merely disagree, as reasonable people may do from time to time. When we are intolerant, we look for ways to force the other to abandon their memes and adopt ours. We shout them down because we feel we are shouting the right memes and theirs are not only wrong, they are evil and have no right to be heard. And once you declare the other "evil," it is no longer a disagreement in good faith, but a fight for the soul. "God is on our side, therefore we can do whatever it takes to crush the opposition," is a dangerous and usually delusional meme to hold. And if it entitles the holder to disregard rule of law, then it is not a democratic ideal and it has no place in American politics.

Once words can no longer be exchanged, frustration builds and violence follows. This is what we are seeing now in the U.S.  Free exchange of memes has been thwarted because of intolerance. 

Exchange of ideas is the key. You needn't agree with the other person, but you must hear them out. Because, once you agree to sit and exchange ideas and concerns, whether or not you adopt the other's ideas, the very act of hearing each other out creates a shared space that acts as a balm to soothe both your soul and theirs. When you are too angry, frustrated, or afraid to listen to the other, you perpetuate the intolerance that leads to violence. This intolerance is not helpful. 

 Maxine Waters calls followers to adopt intolerance of others' right to disagree. [cnn photo credit]

We hear a lot about the importance of "diversity" nowadays in America. True diversity can only thrive if we allow each other to "live and let live." When you seek to silence those with whom you disagree, you are not encouraging diversity; you are actually partaking in fascism. Fascism advocates the forced suppression of those who express opposing views. Disagreement, on the other hand, is not forced suppression, it is merely disagreement.  Shouting others down when they have the floor, shunning those with whom you disagree, refusing service in a restaurant to paying customers who voted for a different candidate--this is not the side of the angels, folks. This is not helping us come together to get the job done.

Personal Note: Gary Ropp Has Passed Away at Age 65, May He Rest in Peace

Gary Allen Ropp, 1952--2018 RIP

Gary Allen Ropp, aged 65, crossed over to the spiritual plane at 4:10 AM on Friday, July 13^th. The dog started barking around 2:15 AM, alerting me to an emergency. I found Gary passed out and gasping for breath on the floor. He was unresponsive. The ambulance arrived within minutes. The medics were unable to revive him to consciousness, although there was a weak pulse. He passed away from a massive heart attack soon after arriving at the hospital. 

Before and after his death, I quietly recited “Onward and Upward” to him, as a reminder to go forward with eyes up, seeking the Light of God. I also asked Franny and Zoey, our recently deceased dogs, to come out to greet him and help him over the Rainbow Bridge. I prayed to Christ and to the All to receive him. Gary was raised in the Christian church and was Born Again and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Now it is up to his soul to complete its journey home; I will continue to recite “Onward and Upward” for a full week as recommended by the Tibetan Book of the Dead, just in case he forgets his place in Christ and his soul is confused and wandering.

Gary and I were married for 38 years. We met in an advanced-placement math class on our first day of high school. He went on to do very well in math, majoring in math and statistics, and taking a Master’s degree in Math from the University of Idaho. Gary served for eight years in the U.S. Navy and then spent his civilian career as an operations manager in support of Navy personnel management. After retiring from civil service, Gary went to work as IT support for the College of the Siskiyous in Weed, California. Gary and I also co-owned and operated a bed and breakfast in Ashland, Oregon, the Albion Inn,  from 2008 through 2014, commuting between Ashland and Weed for six years.

Gary was a wonderful pet parent and he doted on the family cats and dogs. He was a thoughtful husband who didn't mind grocery shopping, vacuuming, and taking care of our large yard. Aside from the pets, Gary’s favorite hobbies involved games—board games, card games, computer games. He had endless patience inside game worlds, and he enjoyed exhausting every single challenge a video or VR game threw at him. He was also a world traveler and always up for an adventure. He is now adventuring his way up to heaven where he will be able to see and understand it all.

Gary Ropp, 2017

Critical Thinking: Dr. Puett's Classroom Blessing

My brother, Dr. Bill Puett, retired from teaching philosophy a few years ago. This is the handout he gave to every student who passed through his classrooms over the years. I hope they remember the lesson and are practicing it. This is what an enlightened electorate would look like:

"Other than your living a loving and compassionate life, I wish for you more than anything that you become autonomous. Be fully informed on all important matters and apply critical thinking before making choices. Regard no one as an authority, challenge all beliefs, but listen to others before reaching decisions. Before offering criticism, know an opposing position so well that you can argue it better than the opponent proposing it. In so doing, you may risk your own position. Challenge even well founded beliefs. Reject indoctrination, even from the sciences. Theories never become facts. Not even the earth can be shown to orbit the sun! Once in a while, give Santa's beard a tug."

Cyd's brother, Bill Puett, Ph.D.

First confirmed image of the birth of a planet--arising from a torus!

In the article below, scientists refer to the torus around the baby planet's home star as a "proto-planetary disk."  You will recognize the familiar pattern as what the Simple Explanation calls a "proto-torus." 

This is the first clear image of a planet caught in the act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70.

It's always fun for me to see scientists run across new toroidal patterns, as each instance confirms my hypothesis that the basic material in our universe arises out of toroidal energetic patterns aggregating into material form. In this case, the energetic material is likely growing out of the center of the proto-disk and aggregating into this new planet rather than the other way around--it is not merely matter trapped by the sun.

Here is a reprint of the July 2, 2018 CNN article by Ashley Strickland, announcing the new planet:

A planet-hunting instrument has captured the first confirmed image of a newborn planet that's still forming in our galaxy.

To the right of the black circle at the center of the image, the round bright planet can be seen within the disk of gas and dust around the young dwarf star PDS 70. Of course, the center isn't naturally this dark. Instead, the researchers used a coronagraph to block the bright light of the star in order to look at the disk and the planet.

It's carving out a path through the disk around the star, which is in the Centaurus constellation. The protoplanetary disk is the "planet factory" full of gas and dust around young stars. The planet was found in a gap in this disk, which means it is close to where it was born and still growing by accumulating material from the disk.

The planet, dubbed PDS 70b, was detected by an international team using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile and its planet-hunting instrument, called SPHERE. The instrument is considered to be one of the most powerful planet hunters in existence.

The discovery by two teams of researchers is detailed in two papers published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics on Monday.

"These discs around young stars are the birthplaces of planets, but so far only a handful of observations have detected hints of baby planets in them," Miriam Keppler of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, who led one team, said in a statement. "The problem is that until now, most of these planet candidates could just have been features in the disc."

André Müller, also with the Max Planck institute and leader of the second team, said in a statement that "Keppler's results give us a new window onto the complex and poorly-understood early stages of planetary evolution. We needed to observe a planet in a young star's disc to really understand the processes behind planet formation."

SPHERE was able to measure the planet's brightness at different wavelengths, which enabled the researchers to determine the properties of its atmosphere.

This is incredibly challenging, because even though SPHERE used the coronagraph to block the star, it had to seek out the planet's signal in multiple ways.

Researchers were able to determine that it's a giant gas planet and has a blisteringly hot surface temperature of 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit. This is at least a few times the mass of Jupiter, the largest gas giant in our solar system, and well above the highest temperature recorded on any planet in our solar system.

They also deduced that it has a cloudy atmosphere.

Although the planet looks close to its star in the image, it's 1,864,113,576 miles away. That's the same distance as Uranus from our sun. It takes the planet 120 years to orbit the star, which fits with astronomers' predictions that gas giants would need to form quite far from their stars.

Directly imaging the planet is a game-changer. Going forward, researchers will be able test models of how planets form and learn more about the history of how the earliest planetary systems formed, like our own solar system.

"After more than a decade of enormous efforts to build this high-tech machine, now SPHERE enables us to reap the harvest with the discovery of baby planets!" Thomas Henning, director at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and leader of the teams, said in a statement.

**********************************************

Proto-torus shape. Energy from the middle; containment from the boundary. Chalk drawing by Cyd Ropp.

Process Note: the absurdity continues...Cyd Onstage in "Once"

The musical production of "Once, the Musical" has just finished its run, but it turns out we are not allowed to post videos from the show. So, I've pulled a couple of still frames out to post instead.  If you are one of my friends, followers, or family, please email me and request the videos. I am allowed to privately text or mail them; just not post to social media. I've converted the videos to mp4, so they are small and easy to mail.

I was understudy for the character of "Baruska," usually played by Livia Genise, and I had the opportunity to plug into four of the shows on her behalf. This production was directed by Valerie Rachelle and featured so many wonderful actors and musicians. I was honored to be among them.

Cyd Ropp (center, gold jacket) as Baruska, in Oregon Cabaret Theatre's production of "Once, the Musical." With Charlotte Morris, Paul Henry, Michael Spencer, Olivia Nice, and Christopher Fordinal.

In the scene below, my character, Baruska, tells a tragic parable about lost opportunities in Czech, which her daughter simply translates as, "Good luck!" The two other actors onstage are "Girl" played by Olivia Nice, and "Guy" played by Christopher Fordinal. 

 Uh oh. Busted. So quickly, too. videos removed by union rules. Here's a still shot instead.

In this scene, Baruska (Cyd Ropp) joins with the flat's Czech roommates to sing "Ej Pada Pada."  Spivat!

What a great production and wonderful theatre company. Terrific troupe of players! Please visit this link for complete list of production credits. True professionals in every job! I thoroughly enjoyed working with so many people who knew what they were doing and did it so well.

Thank you, Oregon Cabaret Theatre, for the opportunity!

Apocalyptic Visions. Part 2: Intolerance

The first article in this Apocalyptic Visions series presented a review of the Simple Explanation's theory of memes. Again, we use the term "meme" to stand for a belief or a tidbit of knowledge. These memes are passed around to our friends like trading cards--most of our close friends hold the same meme cards we do; that's why they are our friends. The more memes you hold in common with someone else, the more you like them. The opposite is also true--we have a difficult time relating to people who hold a different set of memes.

Here is the bottom-line of the previous Apocalyptic Visions article:

The Simple Explanation suggests that "live and let live" would be a great meta-meme for everyone to adopt. If we could appreciate the fact that each of us has a unique perspective, then perhaps we could allow each other to hold the memes that make the most sense for our lives. This is my meme chord; that is your meme chord. If I don't like your meme chord then I can talk it over with you and see if we can move our meme chords closer to one another in agreement. If neither of us is able or willing to swap memes with the other, then so be it. Either accept the other person, memes and all, or move on. Find someone else who more closely agrees with your memes. There is enough room in this world for each of us to hold our own chords, but only if "live and let live" is an overarching meme.

We are now in the midst of a social epidemic of intolerance. Intolerance is the opposite of "live and let live." When we are intolerant of others' memes, we are declaring that our memes are correct and their memes are wrong. And then we take it a step further--we refuse to "tolerate" the others' memes. We throw up resistance, we throw up roadblocks, we close our ears and refuse to listen to the other. We do not merely disagree, as reasonable people may do from time to time. When we are intolerant, we look for ways to force the other to abandon their memes and adopt ours. We shout them down because we feel we are shouting the right memes and theirs are not only wrong, they are evil and have no right to be heard. And once you declare the other "evil," it is no longer a disagreement in good faith, but a fight for the soul. 

Anti-fascist counter-protesters wait outside Emancipation Park to hurl insults as white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and members of the "alt-right" are forced out after the "Unite the Right" rally was declared an unlawful gathering August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images

Once words can no longer be exchanged, frustration builds and violence follows. This is what we are seeing now in the U.S.  Free exchange of memes has been thwarted because of intolerance. 

Exchange of ideas is the key. You needn't agree with the other person, but you must hear them out. Because, once you agree to sit and exchange ideas and concerns, whether or not you adopt the other's ideas, the very act of hearing each other out creates a shared space that acts as a balm to soothe your soul and theirs. When you are too angry, frustrated, or afraid to listen to the other, you perpetuate the intolerance that leads to violence. This intolerance is not helpful. 

We hear a lot about the importance of "diversity" nowadays in America. True diversity can only thrive if we allow each other to "live and let live." When you seek to silence those with whom you disagree, you are not encouraging diversity; you are actually partaking in fascism. 

A Simple Explanation of Depression and Its Cure

Depression and suicide is on the rise and in the news. The suicides of high-profile celebrities Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain last week coincided with the National Institute of Mental Health's announcement that suicide is now the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Death from suicide is twice as likely as accidental death, and if you are a male your risk of suicide is four times higher than a woman's. As the chart below shows, from 1999-2016 the total suicide rate rose from 10.5 persons per 100,000 to 13.4 suicides per 100,000. 

Figure 1 shows the age-adjusted suicide rates in the United States for each year from 1999 through 2016 for the total population, and for males and females presented separately. During that 17-year period, the total suicide rate increased 28% from 10.5 to 13.4 per 100,000. The suicide rate among males remained nearly four times higher (21.3 per 100,000 in 2016) than among females (6.0 per 100,000 in 2016).

During this same period of time, the use of antidepressants in the U.S. rose by 65%, as 13.9% of Americans turned to chemical solutions for their anxiety and depression. Mind you, these statistics don't even take into account the tremendous numbers of people who self-medicate through recreational substances like alcohol and marijuana. 

Clearly, the antidepressants aren't doing their job, as more people than ever before feel so miserable they would rather die. While there are many medical and scholarly explanations floating out there for all of this unhappiness, there is one truly Simple Explanation and cure. Here it is:

Humans need to join with others in common purpose, working side-by-side and hand-in-hand, to build something greater than themselves for the good of all.

This principle is known as "The Great Commandment" in religious literature. I call it the Simple Golden Rule. If you are depressed, here is how this Simple Golden Rule applies to you:

You need to join with others in common purpose, working side-by-side and hand-in-hand, to build something greater than yourself for the good of all.

This principle is also known as "Harmonious Cooperation." In other words, we are social creatures that need to contribute to society in order to feel satisfied. We are designed (or evolved, if you prefer) to work with others for the greater good. When we are not able to contribute, we feel bad.

So look around you and find someone or something that needs your positive contribution and get involved. Plug yourself into the job that needs doing and do your part to help. As Wayne Dyer put it in his commentary on Verse 68 of the Tao, "See the ball, move the ball." Meaning, as you do your best to help your teammates move the ball toward the goal, you also personally benefit by doing your part. Now you feel better. Your teammates feel better. The team is better off because of your contribution.

Johann Hari's best-seller, Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression and the Unexpected Solutions, goes into all of this in detail, if you would like a deep dive into the importance of this principle and how to activate it in your own life. Hari puts it this way:

“It was only a long time into talking with these social scientists that I discovered every one of the social and psychological causes of depression and anxiety they have discovered has something in common. They are all forms of disconnection. They are all ways we have been cut off from something we innately need but seem to have lost along the way.” p. 59

Hari lists seven types of disconnection that form the roots of depression that need reconnecting in order to restore peace and happiness: "You need to have meaningful values, not the junk values you've been pumped full of all your life, telling you happiness comes through money and buying objects. You need to have meaningful work. You need the natural world. You need to feel you are respected. You need a secure future. You need connections to all these things. You need to release any shame you might feel for having been mistreated" (p. 256).

Hari concludes, "Because you have been given the wrong explanation for why your depression and anxiety are happening, you are seeking the wrong solution." I concur. 

Meditate on this and let it seep in:  "I need to join with others in common purpose, working side-by-side and hand-in-hand, to build something greater than myself for the good of all."  

Now find a project you can help with and do your best to contribute.

Seriously, that's the simplest way I can put it. 

Repost: A debate over plant consciousness...

I'm reposting this excellent, fact-based article, written by Ephrat Livni for Quartz. The science presented in this article supports the Simple Explanation's view of consciousness. If you are new to the Simple Explanation blog, be sure to read these Simple Explanation articles on consciousness, too. 

Cheers.  dr cyd

**************************************************************

A DISPERSED SELF

A debate over plant consciousness is forcing us to confront the limitations of the human mind

 The inner life of plants arouses the passions of even the mildest-mannered naturalists. A debate over plant consciousness and intelligence has raged in scientific circles for well over a century—at least since Charles Darwin observed in 1880 that stressed-out flora can’t rest.

There’s no doubt that plants are extremely complex. Biologists believe that plants communicate with one another, fungi, and animals by releasing chemicals via their roots, branches, and leaves. Plants also send seeds that supply information, working as data packets. They even sustain weak members of their own species by providing nutrients to their peers, which indicates a sense of kinship.

Plants have preferences—their roots move toward water, sensing its acoustic vibes—and defense mechanisms. They also have memories, and can learn from experience. One 2014 experiment, for example, involved dropping potted plants called Mimosa pudicas a short distance. At first, when the plants were dropped, they curled up their leaves defensively. But soon the plants learned that no harm would come to them, and they stopped protecting themselves.

But does any of this qualify as consciousness? The answer to that question seems to depend largely on linguistics, rather than science—how humans choose to define our conceptions of the self and intelligence.

Plant biotechnologist Devang Mehta, for one, says the answer to the question of whether plants are conscious “is unreservedly no.” In a February article for Massive Science entitled, “Plants are not conscious, whether or not you can sedate them,” he vehemently opposes the notion that plants can be conscious or intelligent.

Mehta was responding to a New York Times story (paywall) about a 2017 study in Annals of Botany. Researchers had arrested plant motion with anesthetics—a new take on a 1902 experiment by biologist and physicist Jagadish Chandra Bose, who used chloroform to put plants to sleep. The Times wrote that the vegetal response to anesthetics suggests that plants are intelligent. Basically, the article argued that to lose consciousness, one must have consciousness—so if plants seem to lose consciousness under anesthetics, they must, in some way, possess it.

The Grey Lady was making a major leap when it suggested that plants responding to anesthetics indicates intelligence, according to Mehta. He explains:

For one, definitions of consciousness and intelligence are hotly contested even when talking about humans and animals. Second, plants lack a nervous system, which has long seemed requisite for discussion of animal-like behavior. Third, while the way in which many anesthetics function in humans is still a mystery, there is no reason why they or other chemicals shouldn’t induce a response in any organism, let alone plants.

Mehta believes that plants deserve respect. He just thinks confusing their qualities and abilities with those of humans is unnecessary anthropomorphizing. Venturing into the territory of philosophers, he argues that in order to qualify as “conscious,” a thing must be aware of its self-awareness, or meta-aware.

Danny Chamovitz, director of the Manna Center for Plant Biosciences at Tel Aviv University in Israel, says that plants are neither conscious nor intelligent, though they are incredibly complex. Plant awareness shouldn’t be confused with the human experience of existence. He tells Gizmodo, “All organisms, even bacteria, have to be able to find the exact niche that will enable them to survive. It’s not anything that’s unique to people. Are they self-aware? No. We care about plants, do plants care about us? No.”

The thing is, Chamovitz can’t prove that plants don’t care about us. No one can, really. We know that hugging trees, literally, makes us feel better. It has a medicinal effect. But we can’t test the reciprocity of this—whether plants love us back, or feel good when we care for them.

Green philosophy

Philosopher Michael Marder, meanwhile, says we’re underestimating plants. The author of Plant Thinking: A Philosophy of Vegetal Life, Marder tells Gizmodo, “Plants are definitely conscious, though in a different way than we, humans, are.” He notes that plants are in tune with their surroundings and make many complex decisions, like when to bloom. Marder concludes, “If consciousness literally means being ‘with knowledge,’ then plants fit the bill perfectly.”

That said, Marder admits that we can’t know if plants are self-conscious, because we define both the self and consciousness based on our human selves and limitations. “Before dismissing the existence of this higher-level faculty in them outright, we should consider what a plant self might be,” he says.

Marder points out that plant cuttings can survive and grow independently. That suggests that if plants do have a self, it is likely dispersed and unconfined, unlike the human sense of self. It’s notable, too, that many scientists and mystics argue that the human feeling of individuality—of being a self within a particular body—is a necessary illusion.

He further argues that because plants communicate with one another, defend their health, and make decisions, among other things, they may well have some sense of self, too. He explains:

The project of an ongoing vegetal integration through feedback loops and other communication strategies and mechanisms may be considered analogous to what we, humans, define as self-consciousness. The trick is to let go of our fixed association of biological, if not psychological, structures and the functions they fulfill, imagining the possibilities of seeing and thinking otherwise than with the eye and the brain. Maybe once we manage to do so, we will finally become conscious of plant consciousness.

Stuck in the self

Because we are steeped in an ancient tradition of human-centrism, we believe that our experience of life is what defines consciousness, and that our brain’s processes are the height of intelligence. But there is some evidence that other modes of existence are equally complex, which suggests that other living things have arguably intelligent or conscious experiences.

Evolutionary ecologist Monica Gagliano insists that plants are intelligent, and she’s not speaking metaphorically. “My work is not about metaphors at all,” Gagliano tells Forbes. “When I talk about learning, I mean learning. When I talk about memory, I mean memory.”

Gagliano’s behavioral experiments on plants suggest that—while plants don’t have a central nervous system or a brain—they behave like intelligent beings. She says that if plants can summon knowledge about an experience repeatedly—as was the case with the potted plants that stopped curling their leaves after they learned they would come to no harm—then plants are clearly able to remember and learn from experience.

Gagliano, who began her career as a marine scientist, says her work with plants triggered a profound epiphany. “The main realization for me wasn’t the fact that plants themselves must be something more than we give them credit for, but what if everything around us is much more than we give it credit for, whether it’s animal, plant, bacteria, whatever.”

She’s aware of the criticisms of fellow scientists, who warn against anthropomorphizing vegetation. But she argues that there is no other doorway to understanding the inner life of all these other beings. Thinking about ourselves provides a subjective sense of a tree or a shrub’s inner life, but it doesn’t preclude the possibility that vegetations may be leading a rich existence in its own right. On the contrary, it propels us to explore the difficult questions about their lives. “To me, the role of science is to explore, and to explore especially what we don’t know. But the reality is that much research in academia tends to explore what we already know because it’s safe,” she argues.

Acknowledging plant intelligence could put us in an awkward position. Perhaps there is nothing we can eat that isn’t some form of murder, not even salad. Moreover, if we discover plant kinship relations are real, we’ll need to acknowledge that cutting trees down for furniture means splitting up families. More than that, expanding definitions of consciousness and intelligence could mean admitting we’ve been limited in our worldview altogether. What if everything around us is intelligent in its own way, and we’re just not smart enough to see it?

“I’ve been talking to people who work with amoebas and the slime molds and it’s the same all over,” Gagliano tells Forbes. “These guys, the critters, are amazing. They do stuff that we don’t even dream of. And by not dreaming of it, we assume that it does not exist.”

 https://qz.com/1294941/a-debate-over-plant-consciousness-is-forcing-us-to-confront-the-limitations-of-the-human-mind/