Comment on Isn’t the use of strict behaviorism to explain animals kind of obnoxious?
neatchee@lemmy.world 6 months agoThey aren’t warning other plants of danger. That’s an anthropomorphic interpretation.
They are releasing a chemical. Other plants respond to that chemical in a predictable, biological way.
There is no motive. No intent to save or protect. It’s not a warning. It’s just an evolutionarily advantageous sequence of cause and effect.
all-knight-party@kbin.run 6 months ago
While I don't think plants or certain animals actually experience life similarly, aren't our own emotions basically a product of chemicals being released in our brain as a result of certain stimuli?
neatchee@lemmy.world 6 months ago
“Emotions” is a very nebulous term. But we know that abstractions like guilt require certain types of brain function that is only found in humans, dolphins, etc
For the record I believe that dolphins are non-human-persons. So I’m not a “humans are completely unique” kind of guy. But I also don’t anthropomorphize lower order animals :D