- #36
Ryan_m_b
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SamirS said:Well it is assumed that plants only react to inputs, at least those which do "move" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_movements ).
It is assumed because plants lack a real nervous system and also a brain or any device to actually interpret information.
If a venus flytrap reacting to something landing inside its petals amounts to subjective experience, then a button that closes a circuit and moves some mechanical part could in theory also have this kind of experience. A light sensor doesn't need subjective experience to react to light.
So because plants lack any of the known required devices for subjetive experience, and the fact that they are based on the same laws as we are, it is very very unlikely that they have a subjective experience, which is for all intents and purposes the same as for now declaring they don't have it.
Precisely, all evidence points to them not having consciousness.