It's amazing to me that anybody would think in 2015 that some
  people think we _can't_ communicate with animals and plants. All
  one has to do is have a pet.

  Communication is more than words on paper. There doesn't have to
  be a theory for something to really happen - it's just nice to
  get a decent story from Scientific circles; they carry some
  authority in many people's minds and its good when they get it
  right.