Translation of the original: "What are plants saying about us? Your brain is not the root of cognition", by Amanda Gefter

Abstract

This is portuguese version of the text "What are plants saying about us?" originally published by Nautilus Science Magazine. The text explores the complex capabilities of plants, using as an example to challenge traditional cognitive science views about the human mind. Based on the work of Barret and Calvo, the author explains that plants have the ability to respond to their surroundings with intelligent behavior. This allows one to question whether neurons are necessary for cognition. Calvo argues that they are not. When reading the text, as the capabilities and actions of plants are reported, we increasingly question assumptions such as the need for the brain and/or mental representations for cognition. The author presents, in a clear and introductory way, a critique of thinking about cognition on the basis of machine functioning analogies, in favor of understanding living beings based on the ideas of embodied, extended, embeded and enactive cognition (4E) and ecological psychology.