Are plants conscious and do they feel pain? | The Economist

Are plants conscious? Author Michael Pollan has been searching for scientific evidence that could unlock this mystery. He joins Alok Jha, host of The Economist’s science podcast Babbage, to discuss new research on plant intelligence. They examine how plants sense and respond to their environment, whether they feel pain, how they store and process information without a brain and whether they possess a form of consciousness.

00:00 – Can plants be conscious without brains?
00:38 – How plants see, hear, and mimic their environment
02:03 – What anaesthetics reveal about plant awareness
04:22 – Can plants learn and remember?
07:26 – Do plants feel pain or have desires?

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