Plants retain permanent traces of change but lack genuine habit

Evidence

There is very little room for habit in vegetative life. However, the duration of change already leaves permanent traces, not only in the material constitution of the plant, but also in the higher forms of plant life. Even the wildest of plants lend themselves to cultivation. — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel, 1338

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes mere trace-bearing (cultivation, material memory) from true habit, which requires the higher organism’s plasticity.
• XREF: Connects to Malabou’s core distinction between passive material modification and active plastic transformation — relevant to brain plasticity vs mere imprinting. — connects to: Habit leaves permanent traces even in plant life that lacks consciousness; Plant form reveals whether wind or fog has helped, hindered, or shaped it. — Vinson Brown, Reading the Woods: Seeing More in…, 156

Broader Connections

• Habit leaves permanent traces even in plant life that lacks consciousness #corroborates (0.85)