or, an organism thrives when everything around it thrives as well. Grow only as much as needed.

i have no idea what this is about, but it is darkly poetic

Theory of mind is a diverse field with many different views and consequences. I land in the 4e camp of epistemology, so I would say experience of insect are equally experiences of conciousness as human experiences. When you let go of human centric parameters the world takes on a very different visage. I liked this article about the 4e theory and it's implication on the breaking down of the divide between plants and conciousness. https://worldsensorium.com/what-plants-are-saying-about-us/

The dream of wooden pirate starships becomes reality!