Tomatoes talk, birch trees learn – do plants have dignity? | Florianne Koechlin | TEDxZurich

Plants are not passive, senseless objects. They use the language of fragrances to communicate above and below ground and engage in lively relationships with their environment and peers. Not only do they support relatives, harass strangers, make alliances, they also learn from experience and remember past events. Underground they form extensive root and fungal networks to exchange nutrients and information – an internet of plant communities of unimaginable size. What are the consequences of re-imaging the rights of plants? Do they deserve more respect? A recent amendment to the Swiss Constitution asserts that plants have “dignity”. Is dignity for plants an absurd concept? Florianne Koechlin thinks not.

Florianne Koechlin holds a degree in Chemistry (Middlebury College USA) and a degree in Biology and Chemistry education (University of Basel). She is the founder and current Managing Director of the Blueridge Institute, in Muenchenstein, Switzerland. She is a co-founder of the Swiss Working Group on Genetic Engineering (SAG), the Basel Appeals against Genetic Engineering and GENET; serves on the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Future Farming and Swissaid; and is an Advisory Board member for the Swisscanto-Greeninvest.

[douglaspinsak]

When I was about 15 I swung a golf club into a tree to be destructive, and a chunk flew out and hit me in the eye. I always felt like that was not a coincidence.

[seanoneillsongs]

I found this really interesting. It's over thirty years ago when practicing meditation in my shed, where I also had several bags of spent mushroom compost. These I got from a mushroom producer and with watering, they'd produce another flush or two.
On finishing, I was picking a few for breakfast and suddenly wondered if I had the right to pick them and also, why I picked this one and not its neighbour.
It stayed in my mind and before long, I wrote a poem which, for me at least, explained the connection of everything.

Which mushroom did you pick today?
The ones that gave themselves away.
And how did you know which they were?
I didn't, they knew me.

[shadaj]

I think all living things deserve respect for the dignity of life within them. Until life, itself can be defined, can we ever fully understand the processes going on in our universe. One thing for sure, though, it is all interconnected. Whether physical or etheric, animate or inanimate, all things are connected and it seems by design. The fact that we exist at all, with such structure, and are aware of it is mind-boggling to me.

[AtypicalPaul]

So awesome. Love plants and science. I've been researching about plants for years and its so mind boggling how similar we are to them. Many humans have too much ego in my opinion and see themselves apart from nature. We are all in this together and would love to see us coexist more

[jaqdelacruz]

I love this video! I am not a vegetarian but I love how this talks about giving more value in life, even with these little lives most of us doesn't give time to be bothered to think about, this little lives which have fed us all our lives.

[friendlyanalyst]

Another nice little presentation for sharing this big field of science with people. It's funny to see people mocking this info because their informational systems simply don't inform them of the hard evidence that exists in this domain, and then media selectivity bias kicks in and they look for views that contradict this info and think they have "done research and determined what's true." Meanwhile there is a whole other layer of steps involved that people who analyze the researchers and their informational systems have to do before we achieve something close to certainty.

Keep an open mind, and don't be so insecure thinking you might "fool yourself with hopeful notions" that you fool yourself into thinking that scientists are automatically fooling themselves if they share ideas that sound "too magical and cool to be true."

[nehemiah]

I love how at the end she pats the tomato plant on the head like "Good girl!" ^_^

[Cat-ikwo]

Yes, I love plants. Becauae I know, they know, yes, they know. They have their own language. But people can understand their language thru their emotions. I love them so much. I understand them.

[aldobertozzi-sibler]

Die unermüdliche Vorkämpferin Florianne Koechlin! Bewundernswert für ihre langjährige, unerschrockene Standhaftigkeit. Chapeau! "Good girl"! <3<3

[joalexsg]

One of the most fascinating lectures ever, one of the truly brilliant scientists in this new field which has been criticized by the narrow-minded pseudo-scientists. As always, the avant-garde ones will make history!

[ashleydaniels]

This was incredibly fascinating. Thank you.

[lialialia]

Whispering of fragrances! That's so cool. I'm smelling someone's conversation

[GaryDuell]

I doubt any of her critics have read "Finding the Mother Tree". Her science was rigorous and met all the requirements.

[pattyla]

Sounds like Native American Culture was ahead of our time. Should have respected and learned from them.

[vegangelo_]

What a good committee from the Swiss government! I hope all countries would also have that type of ethics committee for non-human living organisms. Also, I love that their constitution cares for other living organism and pushes respect for them.

[ellesunshine]

And yet still no Nobel Peace Prize for Paul Stamets 🍄

[iggybarrato]

Thank you for this video. This makes it more difficult to understand the use of insecticides. This also explains my peaceful walks in forests, woods, parks and gardens because i get a feeling as if I am in a church or a library, probably all nature communicating knowledge to me. I feel blessed.Interesting that some people call me Ig!

[karlpages]

Thanks for the vid :-) Nice talk about sensing connectivity awareness...Considering this subject also nurtures self awareness. Connectivity is great in all aspects.. AI, biology and physics..

[emmet]

Thank you, , , , I understand plants and nature, , ,

[jungletheme]

I hope for a government that is progressive enough to ask ourslves what the definition of plant dignity should be. Xx