It's an organism that crowdsources its intelligence. Meet Physarum polycephalum, or slime mold, which is not a mold, but an amoeba, a single celled organism, that collaborates with thousands or millions of cell nuclei to operate as a single being within a shared cell wall.
It does not have a brain, nor a central nervous system, yet through a simple vein-like communication system of pulsing chemicals, is able to behave intelligently, to learn, solve problems and make decisions.
Heather Barrett, who creates works of art with slime molds, says that human can learn a lot from them. In fact, she conducted an experiment in Holland "Being Slime Mold" whereby people, tied together with yellow ropes, went in search of food, operating as a single giant cell. No talking, just vibrations. It seems that our egos get in the way of superb collective activity, and the slime molds are more efficient at navigating.
You can find slime molds in the wild in the woods and other damp dark places. They eat rotting vegetation. But these days you can also find them in the science lab, school classrooms or even an artists studio replete with porridge oats, its favorite food. When the food runs out it goes somewhere else, often in multiple directions at the same time, and when it encounters other parts of its itself, pulls back and tries another route.
In various experiments slime molds exhibits quite amazing feats of learning. When let loose in a maze, the slime mold retreats from dead ends and places where there were no nutrients. When such experiments are repeated, the slime mold follows the shortest route available to it. In other experiments, when subjected to cold air slime molds anticipate where the cold air is coming from, or when it finds food, stays connected to
So here are some questions to explore:
1. Imagine for a moment that humans were connected as a single organism, what kinds of rules of engagement would we need to implement to be able to collaborate well together?
2. What would be the benefits of a shared human mind?
3. What might be the downsides of thinking and acting together, to being exposed to all other "thoughts"?
4. Which do you think you might prefer and why? Shared thinking/acting? Private thoughts shared only when you choose?
It does not have a brain, nor a central nervous system, yet through a simple vein-like communication system of pulsing chemicals, is able to behave intelligently, to learn, solve problems and make decisions.
Heather Barrett, who creates works of art with slime molds, says that human can learn a lot from them. In fact, she conducted an experiment in Holland "Being Slime Mold" whereby people, tied together with yellow ropes, went in search of food, operating as a single giant cell. No talking, just vibrations. It seems that our egos get in the way of superb collective activity, and the slime molds are more efficient at navigating.
You can find slime molds in the wild in the woods and other damp dark places. They eat rotting vegetation. But these days you can also find them in the science lab, school classrooms or even an artists studio replete with porridge oats, its favorite food. When the food runs out it goes somewhere else, often in multiple directions at the same time, and when it encounters other parts of its itself, pulls back and tries another route.
In various experiments slime molds exhibits quite amazing feats of learning. When let loose in a maze, the slime mold retreats from dead ends and places where there were no nutrients. When such experiments are repeated, the slime mold follows the shortest route available to it. In other experiments, when subjected to cold air slime molds anticipate where the cold air is coming from, or when it finds food, stays connected to
So here are some questions to explore:
1. Imagine for a moment that humans were connected as a single organism, what kinds of rules of engagement would we need to implement to be able to collaborate well together?
2. What would be the benefits of a shared human mind?
3. What might be the downsides of thinking and acting together, to being exposed to all other "thoughts"?
4. Which do you think you might prefer and why? Shared thinking/acting? Private thoughts shared only when you choose?
