Plants as network medium?

[Roger Whitehead]

In article <35F5E8CC.6C3E8F5A at ricardo.ecn.wfu.edu>, Allin Cottrell wrote:
> Why would you make such an assumption?  What Darwinian "function" would
> such a global communication system serve?  Nature is wonderful alright,
> but it got the way it is by a very specific process, not by magic

Who was it who said that any sufficiently advanced technology is 
indistinguishable from magic? It's stretching the meaning of the word, 
"technology", I know, but that's how, for example, 19th century biologists 
would have regarded the things we take for granted today, such as DNA, UV 
pollen guides or pheromones. Just think how they would have been decried and 
derided then.

Speaking personally, I find a lot of New Age stuff to be about as rigourously 
thought out as the doctrine of signatures, but one never knows, does one? 
Given the propensity of experts to be wrong when saying things are not 
possible, I've always felt that such rejections should be hedged about (no 
pun intended) with some sort of caveat ("On present evidence, I would say 
that xxx is extremely unlikely." or some such).

Regards,

Roger

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Roger Whitehead,
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