Since ancient times, flowers have captivated, sometimes bewildered, and even instilled feelings of threat with their beauty. In other words, if flowers didn't exist, humans might have always remained sane.

If such a parallel world existed, how would that world have developed?

In response to this Zen riddle, Toshiyuki Inoko, CEO of the ultra-technologist group teamLab, answered, "I believe humanity would perish in a world without flowers." We delved into the true meaning behind his words.

--What do you think is the appeal of flowers?

While flowers are the mountains and rivers of life, the moment they fall, they also reveal the beauty of death. They are also a symbol of symbiosis. As plants evolve from the sea onto land, they change their shape to grow higher and deeper in order to absorb more sunlight and nutrients from the earth. At the same time, they suddenly begin to produce flowers and fruit. When a plant blooms, insects and birds that come to suck the nectar carry the pollen, allowing the plant to spread and spread over a wider area. In order to be chosen by insects and birds, plants produce more conspicuous flowers and more nutritious fruit.

Flowers and fruit are energy-dense because they are food for others. Using energy to produce them means a corresponding loss of energy for the plant itself, right? Naturally, this means that plants have to give up on the "height" they previously valued. In other words, they let go of their strategy of beating others and evolved to be chosen.

--So they've taken a different path from normal evolution. So why do flowers fascinate humans too?

It's strange, isn't it? I've always wondered why humans love flowers. For example, there's no clear evolutionary process, like the one where plants competed for height, evolving from moss to ferns, and from ferns to gymnosperms. After all, they don't provide food, clothing, or shelter, so they're of no use to humans. But humans fell in love with those useless flowers. That's why I think people began to see God in nature.

--That's not very constructive...

Rationally, it would have been better to cut down useless flowers, but when you realize "God is there!", that's not an option, and as a result, people decided to protect nature. Of course, with modern science, protecting nature is very rational, and we understand that if we continued to cut down trees, the consequences would come back to haunt us, but with the knowledge of the time, it was beyond comprehension.

But as a result, humans were spared. In other words, although the relationship is completely different from that between bees and flowers, humans have also coexisted with flowers. You could say that by finding useless things beautiful, we formed a culturally symbiotic relationship with flowers. I think it's possible that humanity would have become extinct if we hadn't formed that symbiotic relationship.

To be continued in the second part.