The fungal mind: on the evidence for mushroom intelligence

This leans far too heavily on the word “intelligence” to describe the behavior of fungus. Yes indeed almost every organism reacts to the world around it, a good word for that is “alive”. Intelligence requires a lot more than simple stimulus response and internal changeable state, much less consciousness or sentience.<p>Calling mushrooms intelligent appeals to a certain sort of person and publishing articles like this are just taking advantage of those people for their attention.<p>The behavior of fungi is interesting without having to project intelligence on to it.

There’s almost definitely a lot of unexplored science in fungus that would have massive benefits for us. They are responsible for so much direct benefit, from beer to penicillin. They are a very critical part of our ecosystem.<p>I am a vegan, and have probably thought more about human interaction with other earth species than the average techie. While there is memory and stimulus-response there’s simply nothing we’ve found in nature that implies as much intelligence as a central nervous system.<p>Fungus seems to occupy an interesting niche where they can travel spores to various organisms that they can form fantastic symbiotic relationships with. It’s fascinating, but I’m not convinced it’s near mammal level intelligence.

This feels a bit like part of a pendulum swing from Human Exceptionalism to recognizing how far back eukaryotes developed certain traits.<p>I suspect it’s closer to the truth to say that fungi exhibit instincts of a sophistication that we usually expect from the insect and animal kingdom, and less so from plants and fungi.<p>The botulism bacteria is capable of voting, but I hope we don’t try to cheapen that discovery and others by calling it a hive mind to sell ads.

I&#x27;m an indie researcher developing a diy-friendly approach to genetic engineering of mushrooms [1][2][3]. If anyone is interested, I&#x27;d be happy to provide a piece of the same slime mold species (Physarum polycephalum[4]) referenced in the article and used to study fungi memory and intelligence. It&#x27;s pretty easy to grow and the only food it needs is oats.<p>The best way to send me your request is probably to send me a DM on Instagram or to email me (josh@everymanbio.com). Depending on how many requests there are, it may take me some time to get it to you - but I will.<p>A few $ donation for shipping would be helpful, but not required.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;everymanbio.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;everymanbio.com&#x2F;</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.instagram.com&#x2F;everymanbio&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.instagram.com&#x2F;everymanbio&#x2F;</a><p>[3] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtube.com&#x2F;everymanbio" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtube.com&#x2F;everymanbio</a><p>[4] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Physarum_polycephalum" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Physarum_polycephalum</a>

For well a very well articulated argument for fungal intelligence, look up Paul Stamets, the mycologist on YouTube and elsewhere.<p>He&#x27;s a serious scientist but he shows up in popular culture, too. For example, Lieutenant Commander Paul Stamets, a astromycologist serving on the USS Discover, was named after the real Paul Stamets.

Intelligence is an emergent property. And neurons or mushrooms can support it.

I think where people get caught up is that there’s a lot of confusion on definitions (partly since consciousness is almost certainly a spectrum). But a lot of people confuse human sapience with a requirement of consciousness which is not really the case. When looked at in that light, conscious fungus makes a lot more intuitive sense.<p>My favorite description of the difference was from the cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett. He gave the example of a dog sitting in the sun. When we see our dog sitting in the sunshine looking content, it is almost certainly enjoying the warmth, and we are probably correct in assuming the dog is feeling content in a way that we can relate to. The difference with a human, is that we can reflect on that state; we can contemplate the experience itself (sapience) rather than just sensing it (sentience).<p>So complex mycelial networks probably allow some level of sentience (experience states of sense, awareness of the environment), but we shouldn’t think of it as something that is contemplating it’s existence on a higher level. Would we define that as consciousness? Perhaps the difficulty of that assessment is just in applying a single word to represent reality.

Another interesting article (interview) on this topic: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.spiegel.de&#x2F;international&#x2F;zeitgeist&#x2F;mushroom-expert-merlin-sheldrake-fungi-can-teach-us-a-new-way-of-looking-at-the-world-a-a3dd9530-dc15-4aa9-bb03-b23e1adc7e2f" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.spiegel.de&#x2F;international&#x2F;zeitgeist&#x2F;mushroom-expe...</a>

Lots of comments here about Fantastic Fungi. If you enjoy that I also recommend The Creeping Garden which is about slime molds which have a lot going for them that makes them closer to animals than mold or plants or even fungi. Fascinating and well done.

Crime Pays But Botany Doesn&#x27;t: The Ethnomycology of Ugly Landscaping<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=RHRgY8fZNv4&amp;ab_channel=CrimePaysButBotanyDoesn%27t" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=RHRgY8fZNv4&amp;ab_channel=Crime...</a>

I digress,Physarum polycephalum aren&#x27;t fungi, but since they are already mentioned on this thread.<p>Strange how threads tend to grow wild.<p>I always wanted to experiment with Physarum polycephalum in my garden, since I saw a documentary about them about 25-30 years ago.<p>But alas, I have a watch, they have the time. So I guess I talk to them and their brethren six feet under somewhere in my future.<p>As a primer:<p>Advances in Physarum Machines, Adamatzky, Andrew (Ed.)<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.springer.com&#x2F;gp&#x2F;book&#x2F;9783319266619" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.springer.com&#x2F;gp&#x2F;book&#x2F;9783319266619</a><p>Physarum polycephalum is quite bright for a mold.<p>Speaking of mold, there is a growing body of artists working with it.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.seunghwan-oh.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.seunghwan-oh.com&#x2F;</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;discardstudies.com&#x2F;2012&#x2F;01&#x2F;02&#x2F;the-art-of-mould&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;discardstudies.com&#x2F;2012&#x2F;01&#x2F;02&#x2F;the-art-of-mould&#x2F;</a>

There&#x27;s a very good documentary about the theme: &quot;Fantastic Fungi&quot;. It exposes a theory that the trees can &quot;talk&quot; with it other through the the Fungi network.

It&#x27;s a shame that they missed the opportunity to coin the phrase &quot;mycoid intelligence&quot;. dang, can we edit the title?<p>(Just kidding about editing the title, of course.)

Permaculture designed systems sequester high carbon wood chips naturally via Fungi Mycelium networks which break down tree lignin over 5-15 years &amp; mix with native soils to produce a perfect Food Forest Growing medium. Forest grow on top of dead trees, after all!<p>Video related, happy labor day!<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;9QMXmupBYpY" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;9QMXmupBYpY</a>

They were able to move here and there quite quickly, adjusted trajectory in the most efficient way possible. They commonly gather together in large groups. They are...dried up leaves blowing in the wind. Now if you think dried up leaves are smart, wait till you hear about mushrooms...

This article seems to be conflating sentience with consciousness. Much of that complex interaction with the external world they describe can still be achieved by humans while asleep, yet we all accept that while asleep we are not conscious. So there&#x27;s more to consciousness than what they are describing in fungi.

The logical result of an entire generation that interacted with Biology mainly through Pokemons.<p>Animals can show some degree of intelligence because they have brains feeded by biological sensors. Brains are made of nerve cells.<p>Fungi, plants or rocks don&#x27;t have nerve cells, never had nerve cells and never will have nerve cells, so they can not have a brain. Not. They don&#x27;t have it. I don&#x27;t care about if bulbasaur is half plant and your favorite. This things are not real...<p>Now fill the gaps: A creature without a nervous system can&#x27;t have ...<p>Pseudoscientific attention grabbers are becoming a plague