this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2024
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Consider that human neuron makes around 7000 connections, while plant cells via plasmodesma may make from 1k to 100k connections.
We have such a human-centric and focused interpretation of knowing, and what qualifies as intelligence. Something that these recent series of advances should impress upon you is that maybe, complexity alone is enough. Obviously whatever we've built out of silicon isn't something we'd describe as intelligence. But the hint that maybe just 'having a preposterous number of connections' might be sufficient for emergent properties like reason and memory and identity.
So then what about plants? Discount the incredible relationships they make with fungi. Just plants are foreign enough to us to maybe give you a bit of caution. They are easy to take for granted because they are so ubiquitous. Internally they're as networked as you or I. They're constantly gathering information about the world around them. What does a plant know of the wind or the sun? Where would a plant put its 'self' if it had one?
This has been my response to all of the bullshit alien claims recently. It's always some kind of very human-centric idea of a bipedal being using a second thing as a vehicle. Just that entire concept is so human-centric.
If extraterrestrial ilfe exists, it's not going to resemble humans. Unless it's literally our cosmic ancestors or some shit.
Vegan diets require less plants to be killed then an omnivorous diet, so if you're right then that's a stronger argument to be vegan.
Then vegans are worse, they make plants suffer more,since they're not as adapted as herbivores for plant consumption.
Their point is that if plants can suffer, and assuming we still want to eat, less plants die or are maimed on a vegan diet than on an omnivorous diet because livestock eats plants too and the conversion to meat is inefficient.
That means vegan diet is the way for less plant suffering even though you eat them directly. In fact it is because you would eat them directly.
They don't really suffer though because of their lack of agency. Once you've done everything you can to alleviate a pain, it goes away.