[383] in Vegetarian_Support_Group
re: plants vs. animals
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (LEWIS.J.HADDOW)
Wed Feb 22 06:18:28 1995
From: "LEWIS.J.HADDOW" <9235367@arran.sms.edinburgh.ac.uk>
To: vsg@MIT.EDU
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 10:20:50 +0000
Laura writes:
> 2) On the other hand I have heard that if a plant's leaf is torn off it
> feels "pain" and all kinds of chemicals rush to that spot; also, if one
> plant is killed in front of another, the surviving plant supposedly
> "shakes" or "quivers".
Is a rush of chemicals enough to count as pain? What is the evidence
for plants reacting to other plants' suffering? Is the difference
between plant pain and animal pain qualitative or quantitative? What
about the difference between the pain felt by an insect and that felt
by a pig? Or between an unborn chicken and an adult hen?
I think I might have found a good excuse for not cutting the grass!
Lewis.
