Linz, a librarian

Important news everyone.

Poison Ivy as a kindergarten teacher

no, but really: flytraps use up a LOT of energy closing their traps. You know a lot of other plants that move that much? Tricking them into closing when there isn’t food there is indeed mean.

B-but… they’re plants… they’re devoid of sentience, right? They don’t “feel,” they’re more like little wind-up machines. Right? They don’t act on instinct, they’re… well… traps. You can’t actually be mean to a plant. Right??

I’m of the opinion that meanness is about the nature of the action, not awareness on the part of the target of the action. 

Tricking them into closing their traps is actually harmful to them, since the energy expended in closing and then re-opening the trap isn’t replenished by having a tasty insect to digest.

I’m of the opinion that meanness is about the nature of the action, not awareness on the part of the target of the action.