Today, I talked to a friend who is doing an animation recently in Hong Kong via Skype. We discussed the hidden meaning of animal. For example, the snake means treacherous. Accidentally, I found that jellyfish do not have brains. At first, I thought only the tiny creatures such as microorganism or bacteria do not have a brain. Although jellyfish do not have a brain, it can still hunt, float or swim efficiently by their nerve system.
We always describe human as the most clever creatures in the world. One of the reasons is we have the largest brain than the other animal. Sometimes, we even use the term, “brainless” to describe someone who is stupid. It is common to use the size of the brain to determine the cleverness of a specific type of animal. What is out of my expectation is that if the creatures do not have brains, it does not mean they are really “stupid”.
I still remember the inspiration of my project, “Untitled Smell” by a TED talk. The scientific research by Suzanne Simard is really impressive. She found that trees are much cleverer than our thought. And they have a communication system by roof under the ground.
Therefore, I go on to search whether plants have brains and why. And for sure, they don’t. But if they really have, it may not work well. As the brain like ours, requiring many muscles to follow with the order of the brain. Even the storm is coming or the weather is cloudy, they cannot gain much advantages if they can have the reaction like us. Besides, the brain consumes our energy. Trees which gain energy by photosynthesis is inadequate to support the function of the brain. Therefore, it is meaningless for trees to have the brain in their circumstance or even not “degeneration”. Although trees do not need a brain, they have all basic function of a brain such as receiving signals, analysing signals, controlling motion, balancing and even learning memory. They are absolutely much more cleverer than our thought.
From this accident, I find the idea behind these scientific research is brilliant. It completely changes my perception and widens my horizon. The brain is not the only criteria to determine whether a creature is clever or not. I think it is also inspired me on my art practice that social perception may not be 100% true, even on a fact. As the majority may think creature without the brain is brainless.
Reference:
- “How Do Jellyfish Function Without A Heart or Brain?” by Brendan D’mello- https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/jellyfish-function-without-heart-brain.html
- “Why Plant Do Not Have Brain?” (Chinese) – https://www.zhihu.com/question/40950735
Wong Chui Yin, Iris 