I never disregarded anything as a living being!!

I never said plants were lifeless!!!

That’s what I’ve been emphasising so far over and over.

There’s a distinction between being alive and being sentient.

All sentient beings are alive, but all alive beings aren’t sentient.

Plants show all the evidence of being alive, but so far we have no evidence of them being sentient.

Disabled humans are humans all the same. So that’s not a fair comparison. (At least in my mind it’s very clear).

A pretty detailed discussion on the topic:

https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1772&context=animsent

All living beings are capable of responding to external stimuli, both active and reactive. They are capable of basic friend/foe recognition. They are capable of adapting. These are just basic aspects of literally being alive. Even an amoeba can do these things to some extent or the other.

But does that put a turnip at the same level as a dog? It doesn’t in my books.

I’m not any high horse. The field is in it’s very nascent stages. But the evidence so far isn’t supporting the notion. We don’t live in Pandora.

This post is clearly trying to ruffle some feathers.

Would’ve appreciated some links to the recent studies referred here.

And that’s very basic level of communication. I’m not sure we can really compare it higher life forms.

Fungi are an entirely different ballgame. They are way too different from both animal and plants.

Very obvious bait post.

Plants are not sentient. Animals are.

All living organisms show basic reaction to external stimuli. Plants follow that. That does not indicate sentience.

Animals have significantly more intelligence than that. They form bonds, form relationships, mourn, and so on.

No living being except probably photosynthesis driven plankton can live entirely without consuming anything alive.