Thursday, July 24, 2014

Do Trees Communicate?
Ecosystems & the Communication of Plants

YouTube Video: Do trees communicate; published by A Future of OUR Choosing 
Source: YouTube: http://youtu.be/iSGPNm3bFmQ

"Nature is not mute, it is a man who is deaf."
– Terence McKenna

In our last blog post about education, we stated that Darwin’s axiom of “survival of the fittest” was a gross oversimplification, and a flawed view of nature as a collection of individuals. We know it is not.

Image: New Scientist Cover: Darwin was Wrong

The above video is further evidence that not only are ecosystems infinitely complex, they are also highly advanced and sophisticated, complete with intercommunications using various species as means to send important information across vast distances.
“In this real-life model of forest resilience and regeneration, Professor Suzanne Simard shows that all trees in a forest ecosystem are interconnected, with the largest, oldest, "mother trees" serving as hubs. The underground exchange of nutrients increases the survival of younger trees linked into the network of old trees. Amazingly, we find that in a forest, 1+1 equals more than 2.”

We know planets react to light, smell, sound, movement, many kinds of aesthetic stimuli. But although these reactions have not resulted in the conclusion “plants are conscious” in mainstream science, the observation that plants communicate across the forest using species other than themselves to send signals and messages—however rudimentary in nature—shows a specific quality: altruism.

Altruism is a quality of consciousness. Altruism is not a self-preservation instinct, even if it is triggered by an immediate threat to oneself. From this video, we see that trees look out for one another, a trait normally only associated with animals. 

But if trees and fungi work together as described, what may be happening elsewhere in the ecosystem? In much the same way that our bodies communicate in complex and intricate ways, it can be said that ecosystems are “superorganisms.”

Nature is a highly sophisticated and infinitely complex series of ecosystems, all working in tandem and mutual symbiosis. We may one day discover that whole planet is an ecosystem (if we survive that long).

If so, we will discover that the planet is not a “superorganism” but a “megaorganism.”

Image: Planet as “Megaorganism” 


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