More seriously, plants can and do respond to signals from other plants and from the environment. They can't get up and walk away, or bark, but they can, say, emit noxious chemicals to keep from being pleasant appetizers.

Assuming the methodology in the video is legitimate, my first guess at an explanation would be that animals experiencing sharp stress emit chemicals that plants can sense and respond to. We know they emit chemicals that machines can sense and respond to. That's essentially what a polygraph is - a group of graphing sensors.

I'd look for the chemical explanation long before I'd test the hypothesis that the plant is reading my mind and is alarmed at the pain I feel.

I see no connection between that and a belief that consciousness can exist separate from a physical brain.

If you are claiming that plants are conscious without having a centralized brain, OK, I'll play along. I don't see the connection between the video and the belief that consciousness can exist outside of a physical body, whether animal or plant.

The brain is nothing more than living cells. New studies are indicating that there is not a "seat of consciousness" in the brain. Consciousness is the result of coordinated activity of the entire brain.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16775-consciousness-signature-discovered-spanning-the-brain.html

"Electrodes implanted in the brains of people with epilepsy might have resolved an ancient question about consciousness."

"Signals from the electrodes seem to show that consciousness arises from the coordinated activity of the entire brain. The signals also take us closer to finding an objective "consciousness signature" that could be used to probe the process in animals and people with brain damage without inserting electrodes."

"Previously it wasn't clear whether a dedicated brain area, or "seat of consciousness", was responsible for guiding our subjective view of the world, or whether consciousness was the result of concerted activity across the whole brain."

Here is the link to the science journal report:

http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1000061

A plant is nothing more than living cells. Should it be a surprise that what we call "consciousness" might exist in the coordinated activity of living cells?

Very good points, interesting...

If consciousness is defined as one's ability to perceive and respond to one's environment, then these "lower" life forms may be experiencing consciousness. Isn't life made up of senses and responses?