Plants Demonstrate Intelligence, Memory, and Communication, Challenging Customary Understanding of Consciousness
SEOUL, October 24, 2025 – For centuries, plants were considered passive organisms lacking sentience. however, a growing body of research, detailed in science journalist Joey Schlanger’s new book, Light-Eating Beings (Power of Thought), suggests a far more complex reality: plants exhibit intelligence, memory, and sophisticated communication skills.
The shift in outlook began in the 1970s, following studies demonstrating plants’ ability to detect moisture with their roots, calculate light angles and intensity with their leaves, and even memorize and differentiate stimuli. This sparked a debate within academia, with some dismissing these behaviors as mere physiological reactions, while others advocated for recognizing plant intelligence and, perhaps, consciousness. Some scientists have even proposed a re-evaluation of the very definition of intelligence itself.
Schlanger’s book chronicles the work of scientists around the globe - from Hawaii’s Kauai Island to the jungles of Chile – who are uncovering the remarkable capabilities of the plant kingdom.
Light-Eating Beings details how plants respond to touch through voltage-gated ion channels and neurotransmitters, similar to the human nervous system, triggering electrical signals and activating immune responses. Plants also demonstrate auditory sensitivity: Seaside evening primroses increase honey sweetness within three minutes of hearing bee flight sounds, and pea sprouts extend roots in response to the sound of flowing water, even within sealed pipes.
Perhaps most surprisingly, plants possess memory. Nasa poisoniana remembers the frequency of pollinator visits, predicting their return and timing pollen release accordingly. Furthermore, plants recognise kinship, with impatiens and sunflowers adjusting their growth to avoid shading related plants, and plantains synchronizing germination and growth rates with nearby relatives.
“Until now, we have found intelligence only in animals that are evolutionarily close to humans, such as dolphins, dogs, and our much closer cousins, the primates,” Schlanger writes, as reported by yonhap News. “But now we know that the extraordinary cleverness of all kinds of creatures can evolve completely independently of humans.”
The book, translated by Jeong Ji-in and spanning 464 pages, challenges long-held assumptions about the boundaries of intelligence and raises profound questions about our relationship with the natural world.
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