Bully the Plant

Posted on December 19, 2018 by Kris Cunningham

IKEA has an ad that shows two plants in identical growing conditions. One is told nice things for 30 days, and the other is told bad things. At the end of 30 days the difference is very obvious. The complimented plant is thriving and the bullied plant is drooping.

I found the article about this HERE. Will this make bullies stop and think? Do they care about the effect of their behavior on others? I don’t know, but it seems to me that this can’t hurt and may help.

In the interest of showing all sides, I found this article HERE  in Psychology Today. It says the experiment is a hoax. They did another experiment with multiple plants exposed to silence, speech (both negative and positive), and various kinds of music. They concluded that plants like sound but it doesn’t matter what kind of sound. Heavy Metal music had the most positive effect. (Should we consider this when deciding on band material? 😁)

But, is the point scientific accuracy, or raising awareness of the harmful effects of bullying? (Or is it making IKEA look like the good guys?). Either way I thought it was a very “in your face”  picture of how words can hurt and hurt deeply, a fact I think we all can support.

Be kind to one another. This is more important today than ever.

 

About Kris Cunningham

We live in David, Chiriqui Provence, Republic of Panama! This blog is about some of our experiences in our new country.
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10 Responses to Bully the Plant

  1. Mariah says:
    December 19, 2018 at 1:19 pm

    Good to see research that proves what we’ve known for years.

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  2. simplywendi says:
    December 19, 2018 at 3:28 pm

    amen………we need more kindness in this world. have a blessed holiday season.

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  3. Sherry Felix says:
    December 20, 2018 at 10:50 am

    This is yet another test of plant intelligence and feelings. Vegetarians should take notice that vegetables are alive too. And they may have very strong feelings about being eaten. We need to give thanks to our food, as many indigenous cultures do. We need to treat all with love and respect. .

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    • Kris Cunningham says:
      December 20, 2018 at 12:22 pm

      Oh yes I agree. We need to give thanks and appreciate the lives that allow ours to continue. And not only is there a vegetable, there is the cultivation, care, harvesting, transport, sale and everything and everyone else that gets it to our table (and then where did the table come from?) We aren’t nearly as independent as we like to think we are.

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  4. Edie Baxter says:
    December 22, 2018 at 8:40 pm

    Feliz Navidad Kris and Joel!

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