Intelligent Fungi?

[avandonk]

Thought this might be instructive as to what form 'intelligent' life could take.

http://vimeo.com/31616967


Mycobacteria have been around for several hundred million years. They must have done a lot of experiments we can only begin to work out.

Bert

[multiweb (Marc)]

This is fascinating! Thanks for posting.

[CraigS]

Hmm … pretty emotionally delivered speech and very much geared to 'Americana' culture. Nonetheless, Bert's point is a good one .. the mind boggles at the scope of the natural processes underpinning the acquisition of attractive and repellent properties of these fungi.

I find the social message to be in conflict however. So what this guy's saying is preserve the old growth forests in order that these mushrooms don't go extinct, cultivate them and use them to develop medicines to save human lives, which then produces more humans, which then increases the demand on resources such as old growth forests .. thereby placing them at further risk???

Is he underestimating the ability of the insect kingdom to adapt to overcome the attractive and repellant nature of these fungi, when used by humans as a catalyst? He seems to be very focused on the fungi properties but what would an entomologist have to say about this? Insects account for more than two-thirds of all known organisms and also date back 400 million years. I'd say they have some pretty neat tricks up their sleeves as well. (Eg: does this guy spend any time thinking about cane-toad destruction?)

Very thought-provoking .. thanks Bert.

Cheers

[avandonk]

Craig that ant looked very adapted to me with a mushroom growing out of his head!

Of course this is not a facile solution. It just shows we should have an open mind to new knowledge no matter it's source.

What I found most fascinating was that an extremity of the network rearranges genes to solve a local problem and then transmits the data to the rest of the network. This is done just like a viral joke or video on the internet.

The largest heaviest lifeform on this planet is not a Blue Whale but a Myco network covering hundreds of hectares and weighing hundreds of tonnes. This is a 'known' one.

There are parasites that infect both insects and mammals that take over their brain and make them behave to suit the parasites survival and reproduction.

There is a parasite that needs cats to reproduce. It infects rodents and makes them lose any fear for predators. Cat eats fearless rodent, circle closed!

I just hope that we solve some of our problems intelligently before some nasty cancer or organism gets me. I want to be around to see this happen and applaud from my wheelchair or zimmer frame.

Bert

[CraigS]

Was the ant with the mushie growing out of its head alive .. or dead ?? (It looked dead to me !)

I agree the research he has done has immediate benefits to humans .. no doubt about that .. I was a little wary at the point where he intimated that he'd saved his mother from metastatic cancer though .. he carefully did not say whether the mushrooms were what saved her (or chemotherapy .. or some other medical treatment .. or … ??? ...)!

The networking thing (complete with feedback) is a characteristic of complex systems, with components obeying simple rules. It works both ways too, ie: the local environment causes changes in the organism, (ie: genetically), and also the organism alters the local environment. The area of overlap with the internet analogy behaviour comes in the form of Complex Systems Theory even though the causality drivers are clearly different. Great stuff, this complexity theory … I love it .. (and I know you know everything I just mentioned. )

I must admit I was thinking about the symbiotic relationships between insects and fungi during the video … the end thought was that this guy is only looking at a small part of the complete end-to-end process. I have concerns about cherry picking parts of such a process .. just to satisfy an immediate need (a a political/business need). Mind you, cancer sucks and I'm all for the cherry-picking when it comes to cancer cures! We haven't the slightest clue of what impacts mankind's excursions from the controls of evolution will have on anything else, though. I find this disconcerting.

I thought you didn't like cats ?? The loop is most certainly not closed .. unless you revert to your rifle-toting past behaviours, that is.

Cheers

[avandonk]

Cancer is your own cells that go rogue and your immune system does not recognise them. Those turkey tail mushrooms stimulate the human immune system. It increases killer T-cells etc. This cured his 84 year old mother by her own immune system being stimulated to eradicate the breast cancer. You must pay more attention to detail.

The ant was dead but protected from other bacteria by the fungus. If he was alive he would have a massive headache!

I was feeling sorry for the rodent. The cat deserves everthing it gets. Cats in Australias environment are just totally wrong. So are non native rodents etc.

Bert

[renormalised (Carl)]

Intelligent fungi....isn't that another definition for a politician??!!

[renormalised (Carl)]

Aaarrgh...wait a minute. What I just wrote is a slur on the fungi!!!

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

I would say that I am particularly fond of fungi.
What is it that makes people think that molds are creepy things?.....it is simply their lack of knowledge and understanding!
When the scientifically interested person finds a mold growing on something, the first thing he should reach for is the microscope.

Like trees, fungi have a kind of Machiavellian intelligence, which enables them to compete and thrive. But, of course, fungi are more animal-like in the way that they feed, as well being more similar to animals than trees in their protein structures.

Even a single cell has a significant amount of embodied 'intelligence', if intelligence means the ability to do complex computations in response to environmental stimuli, and then to decide on appropriate responses.

The way in which individual cells compute is beautifully described (and without over-simplification) in the book "Wetware" by Dennis Bray