Plant Psychology Issue - Essay Example

Only humans and animals possess behavior and feelings. Ignorance can simply be no excuse for hasty generalizations! Even though plants do not contain a nervous system, the question remains: “Do they or don’t they possess behavior?”

Backster in 1968 claimed that all living cells are capable of “primary perception,” a form of direct biological communication. He monitored the electrical resistance on the surface of one leaf on each of three philodendrons to see if they would respond at the moment of death of distant brine shrimp. The plants were monitored throughout these periods. The procedure was automated, and the experimenter left the premises during the process of the experiment. The plant’s responses were recorded on a strip chart recorder, which was later analyzed by three blind judges. There was a significantly greater amount of activity on the plants, showing they had ‘felt; what had happened to other plants' (Sargent, 1982).

Simply because plants lack a nervous system, people never care to think over the fact that plants can also portray behavior. Hence hard core psychology has been cautious to explain the behavior of plants in a scientific manner. This is where parapsychology came to the rescue; we cannot deny the fact that plants are extremely adaptive creatures. The way evolution and adaptation show their ways in plants have no comparison to any other organism. Plants have many different modifications to fulfill their requirements. No one is going to come and provide the plant with all the things that it needs. All the plants that survive in the world cannot move around and hence have this great inhibition of not having mobile access to their basic needs. But they do survive! And as is evident, they can survive better than many species. If plants are not mobile, how can they take care of their needs on their own? The answer is simple – they know their wants and they know how to take care of them.

            ‘Crop Circles’ is a phenomenon that happens in large fields where plantations are present. Crops start to grow in various types of formations. This is a great wonderful example of how plants show behavior. Tests have proven that there is no electrical or magnetic field in that area which might be affecting the growth of the plants. Also, there seems to be whatsoever no problem with the soil or the atmosphere in which these plants grow. So how do they show such behavior? They have appeared in England, Canada, Japan, Australia, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Russia and other areas. The reason is a mutual understanding and need for collective behavior within plants for communication and growth needs (Wolman, 1977).

It is the plants who have better communication skills than us. It is these plants, who despite being immobile, can work in a better fashion to fulfill their desires. It is these plants that can cause mystical sensations and healings, even after their death. And we are bent upon proving that they don’t show behavior – nothing is final until it is final!