It's no secret that some people have better judgment than others.
If you still cringe every time you think about all the poor choices you've made throughout your life, you might want to look away.
Science just revealed that even plants make better decisions than you do.
I know what you're thinking, and yes. It's pretty hard to believe that a pot of flowers has better judgment than you. But according to a paper that was published in Current Biology, scientists just conducted a study that proves plants are actually way smarter than we may think.
Apparently, this whole plants-are-smarter-than-we-think concept isn't new to the field of Biology. Experiments like this have been done in the past. However, this specific study hones in on the decision-making abilities of plants by examining their ability to develop growing strategies and assess risk.
So, how exactly did researchers come to the conclusion that plants have good judgment? Well, it's quite simple.
The scientists divided the roots of one pea plant into two pots. One pot was given consistent amounts of nutrients, while the other pot received varying amounts.
After observing the behavior of the plants, researchers discovered they were pretty good at choosing the better pot. The pea plants in the experiment opted for the consistent pot when there were lots of nutrients present, and favored the varying pot when nutrients were a bit more scarce.
This behavior is consistent with the risk sensitivity theory, which "predicts that decision makers should prefer high-risk options in situations of high need, when lower risk options are unlikely to meet those needs."
To put this in simpler terms, it's basically better to take a risk when you're already experiencing bad conditions.
So, there you have it. A brainless pea plant is smarter than all of us human beings.
I guess the next time you need help making a decision, you should ignore your gut and go ask the flowers in your garden for some advice.
Citations: Plants Can Make Some Decisions Better Than Humans (Gizmodo)
