Time for a Paradigm Shift? By Sarah Cheng
“Botany: We can live without every other science but we cannot live without plants. They are our food, our lungs, our strengths, our relaxation, our pleasure, our future and our hope. Our moment of wisdom is when we are able to recognize this fact.” - Andi Mellis.
I’m in awe of the new research regarding this most important area in science. How is it that we’ve lived with plants for so long and still are discovering new shocking information? The latest horticultural books on my reading list are:
(1) Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
(2) The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger
Both will have you looking at the world with new insights.
In sci-fi novels, plants and fungi are often portrayed with intelligence and consciousness, easily overlooked by the human species. Consider the possibilities of plant and fungi influences in media (The Last of Us), the Ender’s Game series by Orson Scott Card and the Children of Time series by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It seems that life may be imitating art, with research suggesting we may need a giant paradigm shift in how we view our world and the relationships within it.
The subtitle to Entangled Life summarizes the examples found inside for new discoveries: “How fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures”. Work is underway to develop new ways to create fungi cooperation in farming and even in construction on earth and elsewhere.
The Light Eaters breaks down by chapter research on how plants communicate, remember, problem solve, feel and hear. Controversies exist in the science community as to when these abilities become enough to qualify as intelligence, but current research is creating more believers. View an interview with the author here.
As for take-home value, I’m increasingly aware of the entanglements in our complicated living world - both competition and cooperation. And I now don’t feel so crazy when I touch and talk to the plants in my garden.