Thinking Fast, Smelling Faster

9 days ago

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Daniel Kahneman's 'Thinking, Fast and Slow' outlines two systems of human cognition: System 1 (fast, intuitive) and System 2 (slow, analytical).
Olfaction (sense of smell) is quintessentially System 1, as it bypasses the thalamus and directly triggers emotional and instinctive responses.
Smell also engages System 2 when we interpret or analyze scents, such as in odor-evoked autobiographical memories (Proustian effect).
Plants exhibit System 1-like fast responses (e.g., Venus flytrap snapping shut) and System 2-like slow adaptations (e.g., chemical signaling to environmental changes).
Plants emit and detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for communication, similar to olfactory signaling in humans.
Plant intelligence is distributed across cells and hormones, aligning with embodied cognition theories rather than centralized thought.
Olfaction serves as a bridge between human and plant intelligence, highlighting shared capacities across biological life.
The article suggests that understanding olfaction in both humans and plants can lead to a more ecological way of knowing.

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