The Botany of Desire - Documentary

Just watched the first half of this documentary and can't wait to see the rest. It focuses on 4 plants (apple, tulip, marijuana, and potato) and how they have exploited us to spread themselves farther than most plants could ever hope.

I had never really thought of it that way before but its true. Basically, we are a transport device. By being able to appeal to us, the plant gets carried around the world to colonize new areas.

But it can even apply to the animals. Our species is domestication crazy. Go to any part of the planet and we have trid domesticating the local wildlife (Russia experimented with moose for example). Some animals (like chickens) were capable of adapting to the opportunity and have seen far greater success than their relatives back home.

and we thought that we were the ones calling the shots.

Quite true. And then there are the ones that exploit us that we DON'T want - little weedy things that stick to our clothes and camping gear and make us carry them to colonise new areas.

To be honest, I can't really see the plight of the chicken, in general, as any great "success" in any but evolutionary terms.

Yes, that's the success I was referring to. Every gene's one goal being to replicate itself into the next generation as many times as possible. In those terms the chicken has us beat.