#97: Ways of Communication.

Ways of communication. As an extended study on widening the frame, plants offer an illuminating case.

Spoken, written, musical, non-verbal.

Non-verbal communication is not foreign to humans. We rely on it heavily, in fact. Its powers make the case for keeping things IRL when it matters.

But even our frame for the concept of non-verbal communication is limited. Gestures, facial expressions, postures, and the hard-to-explain (intuition?).

If we expand the frame beyond counting on two hands the forms with which we are familiar, we might ask, “What combinations of energy and matter bind with intelligence to bring about communication?”

Plants live in community and, as such, have ingenious ways of communicating. Zoë Schlanger, author of the book The Light Eaters, explains one example.
​

“The primary way plants communicate with each other is through a language, so to speak, of chemical gasses. ... And there's little pores on plants that are microscopic. And under the microscope, they look like little fish lips. ... And they open to release these gasses. And those gasses contain information. So when a plant is being eaten or knocked over by an animal or hit by wind too hard, it will release an alarm call that other plants in the area can pick up on. And this alarm call can travel pretty long distances, and the plants that receive it will prime their immune systems and their defense systems to be ready for this invasion, for this group of chewing animals before they even arrive. So it's a way of saving themselves, and it makes evolutionary sense. If you're a plant, you don't want to be standing out in a field alone, so to speak. It's not good for reproductive fitness. It's not good for attracting pollinators. It's often in the interest of plants to warn their neighbors of attacks like this.”

​
Communication is facilitation and its means are as diverse as its needs.