Are plants intelligent? Do they solve problems and communicate with their
surroundings—with other plants, insects, and higher animals? Or are they
passive, unfeeling organisms without a trace of individual or social behavior?
Differing answers to such questions date back to ancient Greece, when
philosophers of opposing schools of thought argued for and against the
proposition that plants have a “soul.” What drove their reasoning? And above
all, after centuries of scientific discovery, why is there still disagreement
about whether plants are intelligent? Surprisingly, many of the points raised
today are the same ones raised centuries ago, and hinge not on science but on
sentiment and cultural preconceptions that have existed for thousands of
years.