I believe that our consciousness is closely connected with the activity of the brain and nervous system. By “consciousness,” I mean the ability to feel sensations such as pain, suffering and a desire to live. Once a person is brain-dead, they can no longer express such feelings. Since plants do not have anything like a nervous system, I consider it extremely unlikely that plants feel pain or suffering.
Moreover, plants show no behaviour that would indicate consciousness, and the ability to feel pain would not give plants an evolutionary survival advantage. An animal’s survival depends on how it responds to situations that may cause pain and suffering. Plants cannot run away from a predator or move to avoid a forest fire. For that reason, it is unlikely that plants developed the ability to feel pain when it would give them no survival advantage.
Continue with these questions:
- What would you do if we discovered that plants can feel pain?
- Do plants move their leaves to follow the sun?
- Are there religions that believe plants have souls?
- What about killing animals without causing them pain?
- How do you know whether other animals feel pain?
- What about insects?
- Where does consciousness begin in the animal kingdom?
- Is it acceptable to kill animals that lack consciousness?