# @michigandaily on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DY4onL4gG-A
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/65972219-michigandaily-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/4f1b1e4147.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-05-28T14:00:00.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** The Michigan Daily (@michigandaily) — https://gondola.cc/michigandaily

## Caption

#Statement: Plants appear to be unmoving, so we forget that they are extremely perceptive and adaptive. Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have recently found the first direct evidence that plant seeds can sense natural sounds like rain. Through an experiment with rice seeds, the sound of rain can accelerate a seedling’s growth and energy. 

Like plants, once we get conditioned to specific behaviors and stimuli, our expectations become fixed. While these embedded mindsets can change with great effort, people are just like plants in their anticipatory habits. These expectations can progress to a point where we predict an outcome based on the smallest of things. I know when my friend mentions passing by the smell of chicken, they’re going to suggest dinner; then, we will think of places to go and be indecisive for 20 minutes before going to Raising Cane’s. I know when my professor doesn’t start class with a joke, they’re in a bad mood; then, I will get cold called, so I will quickly look over my notes in preparation. Consider this a more complex version of getting Pavloved — classical conditioning to learn to anticipate but with extra steps. This can be a useful practice, but it can also lend itself to learned incompetence through the smallest of triggers. 

To read more, click the link in our bio.

✍️: Tara Wasik
🎨: Natasha Eliya

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