Systems Ecology and Resource Management, Department of Organism Biology, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles - ULB, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, CPi 264/1, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
Ecology and Biodiversity, Laboratory of Plant Biology and Nature Management, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel - VUB, Pleinlaan 2, VUB-APNA-WE, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2022 May 30;18(1):41. doi: 10.1186/s13002-022-00539-3.
Evidence suggests that plants can behave intelligently by exhibiting the ability to learn, make associations between environmental cues, engage in complex decisions about resource acquisition, memorize, and adapt in flexible ways. However, plant intelligence is a disputed concept in the scientific community. Reasons for lack of consensus can be traced back to the history of Western philosophy, interpretation of terminology, and due to plants lacking neurons and a central nervous system. Plant intelligence thus constitutes a novel paradigm in the plant sciences. Therefore, the perspectives of scientists in plant-related disciplines need to be investigated in order to gain insight into the current state and future development of this concept.
This study analyzed opinions of plant intelligence held by scientists from different plant-related disciplines, including ethnobiology and other biological sciences, through an online questionnaire.
Our findings show that respondents' personal belief systems and the frequency of taking into account other types of knowledge, such as traditional knowledge, in their own field(s) of study, were associated with their opinions of plant intelligence. Meanwhile, respondents' professional expertise, background (discipline), or familiarity with evidence provided on plant intelligence did not affect their opinions.
This study emphasizes the influential role of scientists' own subjective beliefs. In response, two approaches could facilitate transdisciplinary understanding among scientists: (1) effective communication designed to foster change in agreement based on presented information; and (2) holding space for an interdisciplinary dialogue where scientists can express their own subjectivities and open new opportunities for collaboration.
有证据表明，植物通过表现出学习能力、在环境线索之间建立关联、在获取资源方面做出复杂决策、记忆和灵活适应等能力，可以表现出智能行为。然而，植物智能在科学界是一个有争议的概念。缺乏共识的原因可以追溯到西方哲学的历史、术语的解释以及植物缺乏神经元和中央神经系统。因此，植物智能构成了植物科学中的一个新范式。因此，需要调查与植物相关学科的科学家的观点，以深入了解这一概念的现状和未来发展。
本研究通过在线问卷分析了来自不同植物相关学科（包括民族生物学和其他生物科学）的科学家对植物智能的看法。
我们的研究结果表明，受访者的个人信仰体系以及在自己的学科领域中考虑其他类型知识（如传统知识）的频率与他们对植物智能的看法有关。同时，受访者的专业知识、背景（学科）或对植物智能证据的熟悉程度并不影响他们的看法。
本研究强调了科学家自身主观信念的影响作用。对此，有两种方法可以促进科学家之间的跨学科理解：（1）进行有效的沟通，旨在根据提供的信息促进达成一致的改变；（2）为跨学科对话留出空间，让科学家能够表达自己的主观性，并为合作开辟新的机会。
