Michael Lim - The Future Is Fungi

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, species of fungi ha ve b een identie 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, reecting 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 role images ill ustrated o n black b ackgrounds ha ve b een modelled as scientically 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 re 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 identicat 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 eld 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 MICHAEL LIM YUN SHU

FOREWORD THE KING DOM OF FU NGI DR TOM M AY FOOD

MEDI CIN E PSY CH EDE LIC S ENV I RO NME NT

One of the c ore member s of the Harv ard Psilocy bin Project in 1960- 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 . I was twe nty-three when I h ad my rst 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 rst 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 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 oe 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 dene 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 rst 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 rst 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 Im happ y to be y our advisor . If yo ure not, your e better o 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