The Future is Fungi

Yun Shu, Lim Michael

Description

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The kingdom of fungi has survived all five major extinction events. They are the architects of the natural world, integral to all life. They sustain critical ecosystems, recycling nutrients and connecting plants across vast areas, and help to produce many staples of modern life, such as wine, chocolate, bread, detergent and penicillin. Today, in the face of urgent ecological, societal and spiritual crises, fungi are being engineered to grow meat alternatives, create new sources of medicine, produce sustainable biomaterials, remediate the environment and even expand our collective consciousness. The Future is Fungi is a complete introduction to this hidden kingdom. Exploring their past, present and potential future impact in four key areas - food, medicine, psychedelics and mental health, and environmental remediation - this book not only reveals how fungi have formed the foundations of modern life but how they might help shape our future. Rich with informative texts, awe-inspiring 3D digital art and tips on how to immerse yourself in the world of fungi, this is a manifesto for the future, an invitation into a deeper awareness of our relationship with the natural world, each other, and ourselves.

Sujets

• Life Sciences
• Sciences et techniques
• Digital art
• Mycology
• Science

Informations

• Publié par: Thames & Hudson Australia Pty Ltd
• Date de parution: 22 février 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781760763534
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 13 Mo

Extrait

THE FUTURE IS FUNGI
ILLUSTRA TI ON NOTE Scientists estima te that over 6 million fungal spec ies exist in na ture. To date, o nly 120, 000 species of fungi ha ve b een identifie d, which means that 98 per ce nt are still to be discov ered. We took crea tive licence with so me of the i llustratio ns to imagine the dive rsity of f orms that cou ld exist in th e fungi kingdom . The cove r image is an imagined mushr oom, reflecting fungi’ s role as crea tive architects a nd alchemists in the n atural wo rld. The chapter opener images po rtray organic landscapes t hat prop ose possible futures, o r alternat ive pres ents, i n whi ch fungi hav e con tinued to co lonise a nd thrive. Th ey depict a w orld w here fu ngi’ s indispensable role in ou r universe is seen and understood. The mushroom p rofile images ill ustrated o n black b ackgrounds ha ve b een modelled as scientifically accurate re presentati ons of kno wn fungal specie s. All illustratio ns in this boo k, exce pt two di agrams, w ere creat ed by J oana Huguenin as 3D artwo rks, using mathema tical mode ls to simulat e various f orms befo re app lying tex tures, c olours and lighting. Th e digital ap proach refl ects the marriage of na ture and tec hnology that’ s helping us di scove r, c atalogue and understand all of the fungal species in na ture. DISCLAIMER The content s of this book is fo r educat ional purp oses only an d is not intended to diagnose, t reat, c ure or prev ent any conditio n or dis ease. This book is not intended as a su bstitute f or c onsultat ion with a medical practit ioner . P lease seek the personalised advice of a licensed, p rofess ional prov ider fo r any advice on healthcare and we llbeing. As research in to fungi is on going, g uidance regarding the identificat ion of fungi and their edib ility and t oxicity is liable t o change. Wh ile the info rmati on provided in this book is acc urate to the best of the au thors’ k nowle dge at t he time of writing, i t is strong ly recom mended that prospectiv e fo ragers seek the advice of a n experien ced fo rager and/ or field guide. Add itionall y , it is the fo rager’ s responsibi lity to chec k with the re levant au thorities w hether an y permissio n or permit is required befo re fo raging f or a ny wild f ood s. Forag ing fo r and con suming found fungi can cause serio us harm and is unde rtaken a t the reader ’ s own risk. The authors and publis her accept neit her liability nor respon sibility wi th respect to loss, i njury , disruption or damage ca used, o r alleged to be caused, directly or indirectly to any party b y the inf orm ation c ontained in this book or from an y error s or omis sions therein. Dedicat ed to D ot
ILLUSTRA TE D BY JOANA HUGUENIN
THE
FUTURE
IS
FUNGI MICHAEL LIM YUN SHU
V E OUR WORLD
FUNGI CAN FEED US
FUNGI SHAPE OUR WORLD
FUNGI CAN SA V E OUR WORLD
FUNGI CAN HEAL US
FUNGI CAN FREE US
FOREWORD 9 DR GUNTHER M WEIL INTRODUCTION 14
1 THE KING DOM OF FU NGI 6 Fungi shape our wo rld  Where did we all com e f rom ? 20 What are f ungi? 23 How do fu ngi f ee d? 25 The lif e cyc le o f fu ngi 3 Anato my of a m ushroo m 35 Myce lium int elli genc e 37 CLASSIF YING FUNGI 4 DR TOM M AY
2 FOOD 2 Fung i can f ee d us 5 Microf ungi in f oo d prod uction 6 Myce lium as fo od 50 Macrof ungi as fo od 53 How to mak e y our own vitamin D s upp lement s 56 For agin g 57 Too ls, cl othin g a nd equ ipme nt 60 SLOW M USHROOMING 4 DR ALISON P OULIOT Usi ng yo ur harv est 66 Cultiva tin g mu shrooms 67 MUSHROOM PROFILES Cantharellus cib arius 7 Lactarius delic iosus 73 Lentinula edodes 75 Morchella esculent a 77 Tri choloma matsuta ke 7 FUNGI A ND T HE FUTURE 198 ENDNOTES   FURTHER READING 4 ACKNOWLE DGEMENTS  INDEX  ABOUT TH E A UTHORS 1
3 MEDI CIN E 0 Fung i can h eal us 3 The history of fungi in me dicine 5 Med icina l ben efit s 0 Rese arch and testin g 5 Cons uming med icinal mus hrooms and s upp lement s 00 How to make yo ur own s uppl ement s 02 CONSIDERA TI ONS WHEN BUYING SUPPLEMENTS 14 JEFF CHIL T ON MUSHROOM PROFILES Ganoderma lingzhi 07 Hericium erinaceus 0 Inonotus obliquus  Ophiocordyceps sinensis 3 Tram etes v ersicolor 5
4 PSY CH EDE LIC S 6 Fung i can fr ee u s  The history of fungi as a psy ched eli c 23 The scien tifi c re viva l 3 Psyc hoac tive fun gi 33 Yo ur bra in and psilocy bin 3 Psilocy bin -a ssi sted t herapy 37 THE TEACHINGS OF T HE PSILOCY BIN MUSHROOM 18 MARY C OSIMANO The psilocy bin exp erienc e 0 Prepa rin g f or a psyche deli c journe y  The psyc hed eli c renai ssan ce 5 Decrimi nal isa tion and the road to le gali sat ion  Red isco veri ng para dise 5 MUSHROOM PROFILES Amanita muscaria 55 Psilocybe cubensis 57 Psilocybe cyanescens 5 Psilocybe mexicana 6 Psilocybe semilanceata 63
5 ENV I RO NME NT 6 Fung i can s av e our w or ld 67 Myco restor atio n 6 How to cult ivate mushro oms with coff ee ground s 77 Myco design and myco fab ricat ion  Cons erva tion of f ungi  FLORA, F AUN A, FUNGA 19 GIULIANA FURCI MUSHROOM PROFILES Coprinus comatus 3 Irpex lacteus 5 Pleurotus os treatus 7

9 One of the c ore member s of the Harv ard Psilocy bin Project in 1960- 19 63, Dr Gunther W ei l work ed closely wit h Timothy L eary , Richard A lpert (a ka Ram Dass) , R alph Metz ner and George Litwin on p ioneering psychede lics researc h. He received his doctor ate from Harvard Univer sity in 1965. He was a F ulbr ight Sc holar in Europe and w as recruit ed by Abra ham Maslow to teach at Br andeis Univ ersity . He is the f ounder and CEO of V al ue Mentors and an internati onally re cognised organisa tional c onsultant, executi ve coach and educator that advise s leaders and their org anisation s on values-based le adership, innovati on, team building, and exe cutive w ellness .
Fore wor d I was twe nty-three when I h ad my first psilocybin ex perience in the a utumn of 1960. Th e setting was the pl ush living room of a mansion in N ewton , Massachusetts, l eased by m y Harv ard Universi ty faculty a dviser , D r Timothy Leary . Tim was f ort y years o ld, in his second ye ar of a faculty appoi ntment as a lecturer in clini cal psych ology in wha t was then t he Harva rd Department of Social Re lations. I n the first year of our Harv ard Psilocyb in Resea rch Project, t his living room , decorat ed with Indian p rints, i mages of the sacred art s and an audio phile- quality sound sy stem, was the hub f or near-we ekly psilocyb in session s that drew many in teresting chara cters. On the day of my vir gin psyched elic expe rience, I shared the compa ny of Mat thew Hux ley (Aldous H uxley ’ s son) , Al len Ginsberg and his partner Pe ter Orlo vsky , Dr Richard Alpert (later kno wn as Ram Dass ), R alph Metz ner , T im, and his close friend an d psycho logist colleague, F rank Barron . My fi rst psilocybin ex perience was d eeply transfo rmati onal and altered the trajectory of my life . The psilocybin sessio n was a deep expe rience of unit ive ( non- dual) consciousn ess: that is, t he quantum interconnec tedness of all ph enomena. I explor ed multipl e lay ers and lev els of this con sciousness. I realised that my lif e e xperiences up to that point were j ust a very small fraction of the range of possibi lities offe red by de eper lenses of con sciousness. I was able to disconnect fr om the ego- centre d, little-m e self and see mo re objecti vely , and with bemusement , the ‘ Gunther’ character and how he operat ed through his ethnic and culturall y inherited, condition ed wor ld view – w hich I define as the uncon scious lenses, beliefs or a ssumption s through w hich we look at lif e. These experie nces were a ma ssive turning point in m y worl d view . I observed t he unconsciou s framewor k of how my life was run, p rogrammed by a vari ety of life experien ces, including childh ood traumas. Everyt hing I had learned and bel ieved up to that point got turned inside ou t. In our first meeting, Ti m, nattily d ressed in a prof esso rial tweed spo rt coat , khaki pants and sneakers , e nthusiasticall y shared his transfo rmati onal epiph anies and revelati ons from his first psilocybin experience t he previous summ er in Cuernav aca, M exico. S ince then, h e had devoted himself to stud ying the role that psyched elics cou ld play in understanding con sciousness and the human brain, n ervous system and psycho logy . Tim was boy ishly handsome , seductivel y charming, w itty and ve ry smart. H e graciou sly said, ‘I f you ’re interested, t hen I’m happ y to be y our advisor . If yo u’re not, you’r e better off wor king with so meone el se. ’ I had an immediate , i ntuitive response. ‘C ount me in!’ With that declarati on I became o ne of the co re Harvard Psilocybin P roject team members. Th e team included Ralph Metzner and Geo rge Litw in, who were also gr aduate stude nts, and Dr Richard Alpert . To prepare my self for t his new adve nture, I started reading about the history of sacred DR GUNTHER M WEIL
10 FOREWO RD fungi and plant s, their use in ancient rituals, s uch as the Gree k Eleusinian Myster ies and Indigenou s shamanistic cultures from ar ound the wo rld, and early mescalin- based psyc hedelic explorati ons by E uropean arti sts. I later realis ed how m y upbringing, e ducation and life experiences primed me to meet Tim and j oin the Harv ard Psilocyb in Project team. M y p arents and I fled Nazi Germany in l ate 1939 on one of the last immigrat ion boat s. I was two years o ld. In the Unit ed States, I was raised in a midd le-c lass, academic and musicall y gifted Je wish family that suppor ted my intellectu al and creativ e interes ts. I was alwa ys highly curio us and inquisiti ve. In fact, to this day , one of m y cor e values centres on s earching fo r life ’ s meaning. I grew up in the bebo p era in the 19 50s, hanging out in j azz clubs in Milw aukee and Chicago in my mid and late teens. I was introduc ed to cannabi s by my jazz musician