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Is Nature smarter than Me?

DocLeaf

procreationist
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Nature was here before and will be here long after humans even come into the equation.

'Nature is unkind. It treats all things impartially...
...the more it moves the more it yields.
Draw upon it,,, it will never run dry'
 

TruthOrLie

Active member
Veteran
The plant has been cultivated for over 10000 years so far, so correct me if I'm wrong by saying that it should have adopted to over hundrends if not thousands different treatments to extract very different benefits throughout that whole time.

research the history of corn (maize) you'd be surprised what 10,000 years can do
 

Honkytonk

Member
Well intelligence is by no means a subjective category. It is something that can be proven.

So what was the last intelligent thing nature did?
Decide that there're too many Japanese people and tsunamied the hell out of them?

Intelligence is an attribute of living organisms, nature is, even though it contains quite a few organisms, mostly dead matter and empty space.

Go ahead prove that it acts with intelligence... Is there an IQ test for nature?

Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. It ranges in scale from the subatomic to the cosmic.
 

ScrubNinja

Grow like nobody is watching
Veteran
Cannabis, Forgetting, and the Botany of Desire.PDF

Not the movie or book, but the transcripts of a public lecture given by the author, Michael Pollan. A great read to say the least. I thought it fair to paste this:

When I talk about these plants cleverly manipulating us, I’m obviously using figurative
language. We don’t have a very good vocabulary for talking about how other
species act on us, about their agency. We see the world as if we’re the thinking
subject, and then you’ve got that subject’s object. And so, you know, I pull the
weeds, I plant the potatoes, I harvest the crops. But this is just a limitation of our
language. Even real evolutionary biologists talk about things like evolutionary
strategy. And the word “strategy” has intent in it, but, of course, we know that’s
not how evolution works. The first red apple was not the result of a bunch of
green apples sitting around a table saying, “Let’s try red today. We’ll do a red
apple, we’ll see if we get noticed, and we’ll see if we get…” It was a mutation,
strictly an accident. So even though I’m going to use this language of intention, I
don’t think plants are conscious.

I also read a great line today, forgot who said it - "A hen is just an egg's way of making more eggs". :)
 

headband 707

Plant whisperer
Veteran
IMVHO it's not really that far fetched... If we have a dog and it can't talk but we know what it wants ,through whatever that might be called we still understand the dog and it's not saying a thing. peace out Headband707
 

Dudesome

Active member
Veteran
So what was the last intelligent thing nature did?
Decide that there're too many Japanese people and tsunamied the hell out of them?

Intelligence is an attribute of living organisms, nature is, even though it contains quite a few organisms, mostly dead matter and empty space.

Go ahead prove that it acts with intelligence... Is there an IQ test for nature?

Nature

an opposite point of veiw! its getting interesting :)

so your arguement for nature not being intelligent and being cruel sticks to such things as tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes, because Oh yes of course those are "weeely weeely bad fings" that nature does to us humans :)

But this is just your personal point of view backed up by emotional regard to all those catastrophes.

I still am saying that intelligence is something that can be measured. Here is the measurement: Nature made plants grow towards lights. Nature made plants photosynthes. and the list goes on.

You will not meet too many biologists, botanists or whoever deals with sience of nature who will not recognize some unique and rational thinking behind the laws of nature due to its systematic patterns.

With respect to all the opposite points of view. Dudesome
 

Honkytonk

Member
I still am saying that intelligence is something that can be measured. Here is the measurement: Nature made plants grow towards lights. Nature made plants photosynthes. and the list goes on.

Nature 'gave birth' to a gazillion different species and failed to keep 99.999% of them alive. How clever is that on your scale? Pretty dumb on mine.
Dumb luck is more often than not the reason organisms/species survive. Having a beneficial mutation for example is not due to nature's intelligence, it's because of random events.
 
My opinion isn't helpful :eek: guess how many people's are?

You can choose to see intelligence or not, but it's there.

It's very possible that the dumb luck and random events some see are the intelligence others are speaking of.

One may see a destruction of species over millenia, others a selective graduation.

As long as opinons are offered, please don't take cheap rep shots at me for offering mine.

:wave:
 
B

Butte_Creek

we are nature.
we're all an organic byproduct of this planets natural environment. we can be more intelligent than our other natural relatives, but not more intelligent than nature itself because we ourselves are part of nature.

we once were of lower intelligence, some kind of primate like creature. that doesn't change now that we've evolved. evolution is a byproduct of nature. any technological evolution that has happened is just natural progress. a primate's stick to catch ants in a log is the primate's technology, just as our lap top computers are homo sapiens technology.

imo, i think western religions have played a great role in subliminally making us believe we are above nature, an entirely different form of superior life. we were in the right place at the right time in the right environment. our higher intelligence only burdens us when trying to understand something now so foreign and "simple" as nature.
 

Dudesome

Active member
Veteran
My opinion isn't helpful :eek: guess how many people's are?

You can choose to see intelligence or not, but it's there.

It's very possible that the dumb luck and random events some see are the intelligence others are speaking of.

One may see a destruction of species over millenia, others a selective graduation.

As long as opinons are offered, please don't take cheap rep shots at me for offering mine.

:wave:

very well said.
This just outlines the reason why there are so many opinions exist and why almost each of them has its place :party:
 

Dudesome

Active member
Veteran
we are nature.

imo, i think western religions have played a great role in subliminally making us believe we are above nature, an entirely different form of superior life. we were in the right place at the right time in the right environment. our higher intelligence only burdens us when trying to understand something now so foreign and "simple" as nature.

yet another powerful opinion which I do share, although it touches a different topic of religion which is so popular nowadays :greenstars:
 

TruthOrLie

Active member
Veteran
if you're not part of nature, you're not entitled to nature, so you can be charged for the luxury of nature.
 
W

wiseone

nature rules all, will be here after we are all long gone, and will not rejoice in our abscence.:dunno:

:smoker::smoker:well said^^^

Even though we can manipulate plants to some fashion and choose which ones we wish to breed with, etc. Mother Nature always has, and always will, have the final say so as to what is what. Once that is realized and one learns to work beside her as a partner, does growing become an art form.
 

Dudesome

Active member
Veteran
Even though we can manipulate plants to some fashion and choose which ones we wish to breed with, etc. Mother Nature always has, and always will, have the final say so as to what is what. Once that is realized and one learns to work beside her as a partner, does growing become an art form.

absolutely agree with you on this. A very motivating post. thank you :smokeit:
 

Dudesome

Active member
Veteran
Nature 'gave birth' to a gazillion different species and failed to keep 99.999% of them alive. How clever is that on your scale? Pretty dumb on mine.
Dumb luck is more often than not the reason organisms/species survive. Having a beneficial mutation for example is not due to nature's intelligence, it's because of random events.

Your signature says it all, mate. Hope it works well for you ;) no point in agruing. I respect your point of view, but unfortunately can not share it. :wave:
 
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