New Israeli-led research proves that humans domesticate ornamental plants and domestic animals mainly out of a cultural need, since evolution and improvement are not only a genetic product, but they are also realized due to various cultural considerations, including aesthetics
Since the beginning of human history, agriculture and plant domestication has been a topic that has occupied humans, mainly because the domestication of plants and animals, and later also their improvement for "practical" purposes, are the basis of human culture and society as we know it today. For the most part, we domesticate and improve plants mainly for food, but also for other essential needs such as making clothes from cotton fibers. Despite its importance, the question of why man began to domesticate and improve ornamental plants has never been examined in depth. After all, if we don't need to eat them or use them for other "practical" purposes, then why do we even do it?
New Israeli-led research proves that humans domesticate ornamental plants and domestic animals mainly out of a cultural need, since evolution and improvement are not only a genetic product, but they are also realized due to various cultural considerations, including aesthetics. The study, recently published in the journal Trends in Plant Science, was conducted under the leadership of Prof. Aryeh Altman from the Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture at the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (and a visiting professor in cultural studies at Tel Aviv University). The research team included Prof. Stephen Shannan from the University of London and Prof. John Odling-Sami from the University of Oxford. According to the researchers, even culture (not only living beings) undergoes a constant evolutionary process, and therefore humans began to domesticate and improve plants and animals for cultural, social and aesthetic considerations, and not just for utilitarian considerations of food supply. Later, economic considerations also appeared and the ornamental plants became a global economic market of billions of dollars a year.
The researchers analyzed several test cases, including roses, tulips, bonsai trees and lawns, in order to understand what motivated man to domesticate and improve them. The findings prove that the domestication process is compatible with the new "extended evolutionary synthesis theory", which suggests that genetic inheritance and evolution are not the products of genetic changes alone. In other words, the domestication and improvement of plants and animals is clearly influenced by the natural environment and the social and cultural processes of the specific environment in which they evolved, as well as of humanity as a whole. The process of domestication and improvement of ornamental plants developed simultaneously with socio-economic needs and with new scientific technologies developed by humans throughout history.
In the past, the popular opinion in the field of research was that it was about domesticating and improving plants through mutations only, but in practice they are inspired by man and his culture. In this context, the authors add that the domestication of ornamental plants is not necessarily an existential need for man, and apparently has no practical use. However, apart from food, fiber and the like, man also needs additional values related to the culture of beauty and aesthetics, which can explain our drive to domesticate and grow plants and animals. "Many specific cases of domestication and improvement of ornamental plants show that there was a cultural impulse to create them, as in the case of roses, which are now one of the most common picked and ornamental flowers, and tulips that were created in the 17th century as a result of economic considerations and a class war between the merchants and the aristocracy," emphasizes Prof. Altman .
To a large extent, this study explains and agrees with other studies that also show our need for jewelry, pictures, sculpture and other arts, so that evolution is not only about genes, but develops, among other things, from considerations of the aesthetic, visual and sensory attractiveness of the person. Therefore, it is an essential part of our development as a society. The researchers conclude that "At the end of the day, apparently man does not have an essential need for ornamental plants and domestic animals, but we would not be human beings as we are today without a built-in concern and consideration for cultural and social needs as well".
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