I love that graphic memoirs are covering all kinds of new ground, including this reflection on dealing with aging parents and disagreeing with siblingI love that graphic memoirs are covering all kinds of new ground, including this reflection on dealing with aging parents and disagreeing with siblings about what they need. I鈥檓 haunted by the lost look in her mother鈥檚 eyes as she moves through the hospital and nursing home. ...more
A passionate author can make me enthusiastic about just about anything. In this case, I was grateful to have Zoe Schlanger herself narrating the audioA passionate author can make me enthusiastic about just about anything. In this case, I was grateful to have Zoe Schlanger herself narrating the audiobook about her tentative inquiry into plant intelligence. She conveys both curiosity and caution as she seeks to find out what scientists are allowing themselves to wonder about plants: Can they see, in some way? Do they recognize their kin? Can they adjust their responses to their environments? Can they communicate? As of now, the scientists she talked to were pretty wary of assigning actual intent to plants, but they have been able to observe really remarkable features of plants that show they can, for example, adjust their leaf shape to imitate the plant they are attempting to blend in with, or adjust their angle of growth to reach a host plant or avoid shading their kin, or adjust the level of poison to kill a predator (but only after that predator has already taken on some of their pollen to help them reproduce). That is, these findings are remarkable if you assume (like most of us do) that plants are insentient and incidental. It turns out, plants are likely much more complex than we realize. While this may not fascinate everyone--I will admit she gets pretty far into the weeds (pun intended) and I didn't always follow her interest--I was mostly on board with this exploration. And what a cool idea for a book that allows you to travel to Hawaii and Chile and other places where unique plant species are being studied at length. This was a companionable audiobook overall, but don't quiz me on the details.
An aside: I find it fascinating how easily scientists assign personality and intent to evolution but are hesitant to assign personality to plants. There is evidence all over the plant world for intelligence of some kind, but I think the question she doesn't raise is the one I find most interesting: Is the intelligence in the plant itself or in the designer of the plant? As a believer, I see evidence all over this book that God has his eye on every living being in our planet, finely tuning the interactions between species or setting each species up with the necessary responsive systems to do so. In my understanding of the world, humans are designed specifically to be observe and be in awe of these intelligent interactions that would otherwise go unnoticed. A rock cannot appreciate the genius of a plant species that knows how to imitate a half dozen different types of leaves (including the leaves on a fake plant) in order to blend in, but God designed humans with this infinite capacity for wonder that allows us to take notice of these details and stand amazed at the complexity of the planet we live on. Some observe phenomena and take it as a mandate to save the planet or speak for the trees and these things may indeed be part of our role; however, I believe one of our most important responsibilities is to honor the wisdom of the God who designed every species and variety of plants, and so lovingly adjusted the interactions between plants and the world around them that we are only just beginning to appreciate the details. Read this book so you can see the Lord's goodness and worship him for it....more
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