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He makes an interesting point. Some plants have a response to rain triggered by a hormone. To ascribe the term panic to it though might possibly be mischaracter

He makes an interesting point. Some plants have a response to rain triggered by a hormone. To ascribe the term panic to it though might possibly be mischaracterizing the response because of the tendency to anthropomorphize.

danharaj 7y ago
On the other hand, we have many primal and ancient behaviors that can be contextualized on evolutionary timescales so that it can be reasonably said that, yea, a lot of our behaviors have common heritage with even plants.
- samvher 7y ago
  Except our last common ancestor with plants was single celled so we’re unlikely to share many multicellular behaviors. Commonalities will be sub-cellular.
  - danharaj 7y ago
    Unicellular life has stress responses too.
nkrisc 7y ago
Well we don't really have words to describe plant behavior. I agree, we can't view plants through an animalian lense, but at the same time we have to use the words we have to discuss them. I think it's fair to say plant "panic" is different than animal "panic" but from what I read, panic seems to be the closest analogue.
- phkahler 7y ago
  Is our immune response to a pathogen considered panic? I think not.
  - jadell 7y ago
    A chemical reaction that sets of a string of defensive protection reactions and behaviors? Sounds quite like panic to me. It's basically "fight or flight" for plants except plants can't do the "flight" part.
- narag 7y ago
  Panic is not the same as fear. Panic (insert here mythological reference to god Pan) is a kind of fear that causes uncontrolled, irrational and often counterproductive behaviour. Is that the case?
  - jcranberry 7y ago
    'uncontrolled and irrational' is only a bad thing in the context of human rationality and self control. plants obviously do not have such a thing--all their actions are primal and unmoderated. So panic for a plant would probably mean something like an immediate response to adverse stimuli, with an immediate and short-term goal of self-preservation.
    - lonelappde 7y ago
      "panic" means to react in a counterproductive way because fear overwhelms. It's different from a mere adrenal response that has short term gain at long term risk. Adrenaline makes you jump higher. Panic makes you jump off a cliff.

danharaj 7y ago

On the other hand, we have many primal and ancient behaviors that can be contextualized on evolutionary timescales so that it can be reasonably said that, yea, a lot of our behaviors have common heritage with even plants.

samvher 7y ago
Except our last common ancestor with plants was single celled so we’re unlikely to share many multicellular behaviors. Commonalities will be sub-cellular.
- danharaj 7y ago
  Unicellular life has stress responses too.

nkrisc 7y ago

Well we don't really have words to describe plant behavior. I agree, we can't view plants through an animalian lense, but at the same time we have to use the words we have to discuss them. I think it's fair to say plant "panic" is different than animal "panic" but from what I read, panic seems to be the closest analogue.

phkahler 7y ago
Is our immune response to a pathogen considered panic? I think not.
- jadell 7y ago
  A chemical reaction that sets of a string of defensive protection reactions and behaviors? Sounds quite like panic to me. It's basically "fight or flight" for plants except plants can't do the "flight" part.
narag 7y ago
Panic is not the same as fear. Panic (insert here mythological reference to god Pan) is a kind of fear that causes uncontrolled, irrational and often counterproductive behaviour. Is that the case?
- jcranberry 7y ago
  'uncontrolled and irrational' is only a bad thing in the context of human rationality and self control. plants obviously do not have such a thing--all their actions are primal and unmoderated. So panic for a plant would probably mean something like an immediate response to adverse stimuli, with an immediate and short-term goal of self-preservation.
  - lonelappde 7y ago
    "panic" means to react in a counterproductive way because fear overwhelms. It's different from a mere adrenal response that has short term gain at long term risk. Adrenaline makes you jump higher. Panic makes you jump off a cliff.