Question

Why do we tend to see unhealthy plants and animals as unattractive?

From Botany of Desire..thank you!!

Answer 1

People and society tend to make us think that to survive in this world we should be attractive and beautiful.Parents make their children think that only that things are useful for us which are beautiful and so is the case of plants and animals. Plants and flowers are the sign of beauty and but only when they are  blooming ,but when they are wrinkled they get removed.Also many animals which are rather very useful but not attractive are neglected by the society because they did not match our definition of attractive .So its our point of view that why we tend to see unhealthy plants and animals as unattractive although they could be useful to us in many ways. A flower from both plants will be same.

However when we see this statement in a different light it can be considered as that unhealthy plants can be harmful to us and that's why they are seen as unattractive too.

This statement is taken from the Botany of Desires and throws light on the fact that why unhealthy plants and animals are seen as unattractive and it is based on the true event of TULIP MANIA.

By satisfying the human desire for beauty, the tulip has risen from obscurity to fame – but along the way, it has also wreaked havoc. The Botany of Desire travels to the Netherlands, the home of "tulip mania," and introduces the viewer to growers and breeders who devote their lives to this lovely flower, which serves no practical human purpose other than to bring pleasure to our eyes.

Like the apple, the first wild tulips sprang up in Central Asia. They made their way to Turkey, where they bewitched one of the world's most powerful men, Sultan Ahmed III of the Ottoman Empire, whose reckless spending on the flowers helped to topple him from his throne.

But the trouble that tulips caused for the sultan paled in comparison to what happened in the Netherlands in the early 17th century. Between 1634 and 1637, tulips swept the Dutch into a collective frenzy that became known as "tulip mania." As the Dutch became rich through their dominance of world trade, it became fashionable to cultivate impressive flower gardens. And nothing said success like a relatively new arrival from the East: the tulip – particularly the very rare variety called Semper Augustus. Single bulbs of Semper Augustus were so hotly desired that they were being sold for a price equivalent today to 10 or 15 million dollars. But when the tulip bubble burst, fortunes were wiped out and the Dutch economy reeled from the blow. This can well describe how plants can be beautiful and attractive but still be destructive.