Dodder doesn’t have a brain, eyes, or nerves—yet it behaves like a hunter. It can sense nearby plants, somehow detect which one has the most nutrients, and grow toward it with a great precision. Once it reaches its target, it wraps around the host and drains its energy. It’s like a vine with a mission, acting with purpose despite having no mind as we know it.

This phenomenon is hinting us that maybe consciousness isn’t just about having a brain. Maybe it’s something more fundamental—like the ability to respond, adapt, and seek survival. Dodder doesn’t think, but it chooses. It doesn’t see, but it finds. In its quiet, creeping way, it challenges our idea of what awareness really is. Perhaps intelligence isn’t limited to neurons, and life itself carries a kind of knowing we’ve only begun to understand.