"Plants are Sentient and Have Feelings Too"

Question 1

About this Deck: “Plants are Sentient and Have Feelings Too.”

Answer 1

This deck parallels the briefing at: vbriefings.org/plants.

– There are no formal citations here, although sources may be mentioned. Full citations with links are provided in the briefing.

– It would be best to read the briefing before studying these cards. Reading the briefing first provides understanding and context.

Question 2

What is the briefing titled ““Plants Are Sentient and Have Feelings Too” about?

Answer 2

The briefing provides several reasons why objections to veganism based on plant sentience or plant pain are unfounded.

Question 3

Provide a high-level summary of the briefing on plant sentience.

Answer 3

The plant-sentience objection to veganism is flawed because plants lack the capacity to suffer or feel emotions, unlike animals. Also eating animals causes more plant deaths than directly consuming plants due to animal agriculture’s inefficiency. While plant sentience is often sensationalized, it does not compare ethically or scientifically to the well-established sentience of animals.

Question 4

In context, what motivates the plant sentience-based objection to veganism?

Answer 4

This objection to animal rights and veganism is usually not from a concern for the well-being of plants but to illuminate a perceived inconsistency. If both plants and animals are sentient and have feelings, and if we abstain from eating animals for ethical reasons, then we must also abstain from eating plants.

Question 5

What are the key points presented in the briefing on plant sentience?

Answer 5

1. Eating animals kills more plants than eating plants.
2. Plants differ from animals in ethically significant ways.
3. There is no reason plants would experience pain
4. Some plants depend on being eaten for the survival of their species.
5. Visceral reactions differ with plants and animals.

Question 6

Why does eating animals kill more plants than eating plants?

Answer 6

Because raising animals for food is extremely inefficient—animals require large amounts of plant calories to produce a relatively small amount of edible animal calories because most of the calories are lost in metabolism and in growing non-edible parts (like bones, feathers, and skin).

Question 7

According to the World Resources Institute, how many calories of plant feed does it take, on average, to produce one calorie of animal feed?

Answer 7

It takes on average 24 calories of plant feed to produce one calorie of food from animals.

Question 8

What percentage of the world’s soy and grain used for food is fed to animals, and who said so?

Answer 8

Over 75%, according to the UN and UN data compiled by the “Our World in Data” group.

Question 9

In what ethically significant ways do plants differ from animals?

Answer 9

1. Plants don’t suffer or feel pain.
2. Plants cannot experience emotions.
3. Plants have no self-awareness or sense of the future.
4. Plants do not have desires, preferences, or interests.

Question 10

Why can’t plants suffer or feel pain?

Answer 10

Because plants lack a brain and pain receptors, they cannot feel pain. Plants may sense they are being eaten through mechanoreceptors, but they don’t care.

Question 11

Why can’t plants experience emotions?

Answer 11

Emotions are processed in the hippocampus and amygdala regions of the brain—neither of which are present in plants.

Question 12

Why do plants have no self-awareness or sense of the future?

Answer 12

Thinking requires a brain, and without thought, there can be no self-awareness or sense of the future.

Question 13

Why is it that plants cannot have desires, preferences, or interests?

Answer 13

These traits require thinking, and thinking requires a brain.

Question 14

Why is there no reason plants would experience pain?

Answer 14

Pain is a response to avoid tissue damage by withdrawing or fleeing, and since plants have limited ability to withdraw or flee, there is no reason they would have evolved to feel pain.

Question 15

Explain how some plants depend on being eaten for the survival of their species.

Answer 15

Some plants depend on being eaten to enhance the chances that their species will survive. The indigestible seeds of the plants will be spread over a wide geographical area as the plants are eaten by animals and then deposited in the animals’ excrement.

Question 16

Why do our visceral reactions differ with plants and animals?

Answer 16

Our visceral difference in reactions to harming plants versus animals shows we intuitively recognize animals’, not plants’, capacity to suffer. For example, we all sense the difference between pulling up a dandelion and slitting the throat of a chicken. Watching someone mow the lawn doesn’t evoke the same reaction as watching someone kick a dog.

Question 17

Explain how plants can act intelligently without being sentient.

Answer 17

Plants exhibit intelligence through complex behaviors like responding to stimuli, communicating chemically, and optimizing resource use. However, they lack a brain and the capacity for subjective experiences, which are essential for sentience.

Question 18

What are some counterclaims that might arise when discussing plant sentience?

Answer 18

1. You can’t prove that plants are not sentient, don’t feel pain, and don’t suffer.
2. There are numerous articles showing that plants are sentient, feel pain, and suffer.

Question 19

How might you respond to someone who says that you can’t prove that plants are not sentient, don’t feel pain, and don’t suffer?

Answer 19

The burden of proof is on the person making the claim. If one says that plants are sentient, for example, it’s up to them to prove that claim. Similarly, if I say unicorns are real, the burden of proof is on me to offer evidence that they are real, not on you to prove they are not.

Question 20

What is the difference between the burden of proof fallacy and the argument from ignorance fallacy?

Answer 20

The burden of proof fallacy shifts the responsibility of providing evidence to others, while the argument from ignorance assumes a claim is true due to lack of evidence disproving it.

Question 21

How might you respond to the claim that there are numerous articles showing that plants are sentient, feel pain, and suffer?

Answer 21

These are just claims, and they are not backed by science. Because plant sentience is a fascinating topic with widespread interest and curiosity, it lends itself to clickbait, sensationalism, and misrepresentation of findings.

Question 22

Name one scientific study that does a good job explaining why plants aren’t sentient.

Answer 22

The 2021 study published in Protoplasma, ‘Debunking a myth: plant consciousness’ critiques existing claims and misconceptions about plant consciousness and debunks the idea that plants possess sentience or conscious experience.

Question 23

How did Leonardo da Vinci weigh in on Plant Sentience?

Answer 23

Leonardo da Vinci observed centuries ago that plants don’t feel pain, noting that animals sense pain to protect themselves, while immobile plants lack this need.

Question 24

What should you always do when answering an objection?

Answer 24

Try to respond briefly and steer the conversation back to the animals. These briefings provide detailed, cited responses, which you can share by inviting others to visit this website. This allows you to focus on the animals without covering all the details of an objection during the discussion.

Question 25

What two questions can you ask if the topic of plant sentience or pain comes up during a conversation?

Answer 25

Ask your interlocutor how they would personally react to seeing someone pull a weed versus seeing someone slit the throat of a pig. Ask your interlocutor by what mechanism a plant can feel pain given they lack a brain and pain receptors.

Question 26

How might you respond when told that plants have intelligence?

Answer 26

Yes, but those are biochemical pathways, not neural pathways—there’s a big difference.