Trees....

Trees, probably the most common casualties of modern society. Chopped down endlessly and such.. It kind of saddens me how someone can end a 500 year life for the sake of toothpicks..
Do you consider trees... worth saving? I don't mean for oxygen and whatnot, I mean like.. for the sake of preserving sentience... maybe not sentience, but life. They may not have brains, or any thought patterns at all but they strive for life, they adapt, and try to survive. Put a melon in a box and it comes out square. I don't think that's just... normal. Maybe I'm just weird, but i think trees might be a tad smarter than we think. Look at starfish, They're nothing but a nervous system on a muscle frame. But they run from predators, they find food. I mean, If trees can catch flies and the like, they should be thought of as more than they are now.

So... My question is: Do you think there's sentience in plant life?

Sorry if it disturbs you, but I think two things.

• Salad is tasty (extrapolating to plants in general), but also Apples, Bananas, etc, are nice.
• We have to eat to survive

While I know you're considering more outside eating, that basically sums my view up.

Where is the "I don't care" option >_>

Originally Posted by Lord_T

Trees, probably the most common casualties of modern society. Chopped down endlessly and such.. It kind of saddens me how someone can end a 500 year life for the sake of toothpicks..

Yes, it saddens me also that these old organisms are being chopped down to fuel our explosive population growth, but all things die eventually, whether from old age or the axe.

Ah the trees, ancient creatures and young too...forever growing, until the time of death comes upon them, whether by the axe or the slow decay of time.

Tree's are a neccasary thing to the balance of the Earth's workings. But cutting them down, is a neccasary evil...although I think we cut too much.

I have no problem with cutting down trees as long as new trees are being planted.

I think it's fine to cut down trees as long as we replant them.

Originally Posted by Pyritie

I think it's fine to cut down trees as long as we replant them.

Originally Posted by ZypherXII

I have no problem with cutting down trees as long as new trees are being planted.

So, with that mentality, you guys wouldn't mind being butchered and used as dog food, so long as your parents had another child?

The only tricky part would be getting us butchered.

We're at the top of the food chain.

I agree that trees need to be cut down. Trees renew incredibly quickly, so its not like we're causing extinction or genocide or somesuch. We chop them down, use them, then plant some more.

Far more intelligent animals, like cows, pigs, etc, are being used for food every day. We're higher up the chain, we get free dibs on everything below us. That's just how things work.

Indeed. Whether by survival of the fittest, divine command, or a simple and plain driving need for dominance...We are above the creatures that are below us (obviously) and we have control over their lives...and what we do with them.

Tree's while ancient and mysterious...are also under the dominion of man.

Life gives us these choices.

"You can destroy nature, to build your own twisted hollow version."

"You can live with nature, work with it, but be above it."

"You can live under nature, and face the fickle wrath of the mother as her elements tear you down."

So, with that mentality, you guys wouldn't mind being butchered and used as dog food, so long as your parents had another child?

If I was a tree I wouldn't have much choice, would I?

And since trees can't think, they are unaware that choice even exists.

Originally Posted by brad.dude03

And since trees can't think, they are unaware that choice even exists.

Trees can't think??
What about venus flytraps and creeping vines?

They aren't thinking, that's the most basic of natural responses. They are not sentient, they have no consciousness or intelligent, and only a nucleus, the simplest of thought units, guides them.

From a completely natural perspective (non-supernatural) Trees are indeed, non-sapient.

Only basic instict and reflex guides their ways (as brad has said)

Botanists and others in the field of plant life, have not yet discovered a "brain".