Plant Intelligence
/A dialogue with 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction Richard Powers, evolutionary ecologist Monica Gagliano, and ICE@Dartmouth Director Marcelo Gleiser
We think of intelligence as being a brain-supported evolutionary asset. Large or small, brains have neurons connected by synapses. It is this interconnectivity—or so it is believed—that engenders intelligence. But is this too narrow a definition of intelligence? Could plants and ecosystems display some form of alternative intelligent behavior? If so, can (and should) it be studied using traditional scientific methods? Watch 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction Richard Powers (The Overstory) and evolutionary ecologist Monica Gagliano (University of Sydney and ICE@Dartmouth Fellow, and author of Thus Spoke the Plant) in a truly mind-expanding conversation that is sure to reset the way you think about the nature of intelligence, plant behavior, and our place within Nature. Moderated by ICE@Dartmouth Director Marcelo Gleiser.
Recorded at Dartmouth College on February 27, 2020
A two-day virtual conference bringing together scientists and humanists to discuss our collective future from different perspectives, moderated by ICE@Dartmouth Director Marcelo Gleiser
Watch the video and discuss →