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Re: Chapter 4 - Mycelial Minds

Herbert Lewis <herbertlewis@...>
 

On Tue, Nov 16, 2021 at 04:08 AM, Magda wrote:
I find consciousness and reality as is fascinating enough, so I don’t do drugs at all.

Magda, Sheldrake speculated about the possibility that the use of hallucinatory effects of "magic mushrooms" might actually enhance your perception of reality.

 He quotes the philosopher David Abram as explaining:  "It takes less cognitive effort to make sense of the world using preconceived images updated with a small amount of new sensory information than to constantly form entirely new perceptions from scratch."  In fact Sheldrake cites authors who claim that our perceptions are formed by our expectations and are only occasionally interrupted by unexpected events.  Most of what we perceive as reality is formed by our preconceptions and presuppositions (most significantly, our Weltanschauung).  

Sheldrake wrote "Fungi, too, trick us out of our preconceptions."  When he wrote that he was referring to the study of fungi behavior and characteristics.  He describes how the more he's "studied fungi, the more my expectations have loosened and the more familiar concepts started to appear unfamiliar."  In describing his participation in an experiment involving ingesting LSD he also related experimenters using the drug to induce imaginative solutions to their scientific problems by loosening the knots of their preconceptions and presuppositions or reality.  The author himself participated by taking a controlled LSD dosage and spending his "high" time considering "the lives of the blue flowers, Voyria" and how they managed to live without photosynthesis.

This possibility holds no attraction for me because of the widely reported potential for adverse unintended side effects.    I have never tried recreational drugs with the exception of alcohol.  I have a beer or two for dinner most evenings and occasionally a shot or two of JD.  But I've never imbibed alcohol with the intent of enhancing my perception of reality.  Nonetheless, I suppose even my liquor consumption would qualify as relevant to Bekah's question.  Beer is brewed and whiskey is distilled with the aid of yeast and yeast is a form of fungi.

 
 
 
Re: EL = Q 5 = the reader

Merilee Olson
 

The bits on lignin and coal is interesting!

On Thu, Nov 18, 2021 at 3:26 PM Merilee Olson via groups.io <merilee.olson=gmail.com@groups.io> wrote:

I meant I WOULD have thought!
On Thu, Nov 18, 2021 at 3:17 PM Merilee Olson via groups.io <merilee.olson=gmail.com@groups.io> wrote:
I wouldn’t  have thought I might have been a perfect reader of this book, but in the later chapters I am kind of feeling TMI.  Too wordy.  I did love the first few chapters but got bored with all the psilocybin stuff.  I think I’ve got two chapters to go. I do like the drawings.

On Thu, Nov 18, 2021 at 1:41 PM Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:
5.    Who is the ideal reader for Entangled Lives and what would his background be?  Is the style and organization appropriate to this reader?  Is there anyone you’d recommend the book to or actually give it to as a gift? 

Becky






Re: EL = Q 5 = the reader

Merilee Olson
 


I meant I WOULD have thought!

On Thu, Nov 18, 2021 at 3:17 PM Merilee Olson via groups.io <merilee.olson=gmail.com@groups.io> wrote:
I wouldn’t  have thought I might have been a perfect reader of this book, but in the later chapters I am kind of feeling TMI.  Too wordy.  I did love the first few chapters but got bored with all the psilocybin stuff.  I think I’ve got two chapters to go. I do like the drawings.

On Thu, Nov 18, 2021 at 1:41 PM Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:
5.    Who is the ideal reader for Entangled Lives and what would his background be?  Is the style and organization appropriate to this reader?  Is there anyone you’d recommend the book to or actually give it to as a gift? 

Becky






Re: EL = Q 5 = the reader

Merilee Olson
 

I wouldn’t  have thought I might have been a perfect reader of this book, but in the later chapters I am kind of feeling TMI.  Too wordy.  I did love the first few chapters but got bored with all the psilocybin stuff.  I think I’ve got two chapters to go. I do like the drawings.

On Thu, Nov 18, 2021 at 1:41 PM Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:
5.    Who is the ideal reader for Entangled Lives and what would his background be?  Is the style and organization appropriate to this reader?  Is there anyone you’d recommend the book to or actually give it to as a gift? 

Becky






EL = Q 5 = the reader

Becky Lindroos
 

5. Who is the ideal reader for Entangled Lives and what would his background be? Is the style and organization appropriate to this reader? Is there anyone you’d recommend the book to or actually give it to as a gift?

Becky
Second Nomination

Jeffrey Taylor
 

Also from Goodreads:

"In The Value of Herman Melville, Geoffrey Sanborn presents Melville to us neither as a somber purveyor of dark truths nor as an ironist who has outthought us in advance but as a quasi-maternal provider, a writer who wants more than anything else to supply us with the means of enriching our experiences. In twelve brief chapters, Sanborn examines the distinctive qualities of Melville's style - its dynamism, its improvisatoriness, its intimacy with remembered or imagined events - and shows how those qualities, once they have become a part of our equipment for living, enable us to sink deeper roots into the world. Ranging across his career, but focusing in particular on Moby-Dick, 'Bartleby, the Scrivener', 'Benito Cereno', and Billy Budd, Sanborn shows us a Melville who is animating rather than overawing, who encourages us to bring more of ourselves to the present and to care more about the life that we share with others."
First Nomination

Jeffrey Taylor
 

From Goodreads:

"Now in paperback, Fredric Jameson’s most wide-ranging work seeks to crystalize a definition of ”postmodernism”. Jameson’s inquiry looks at the postmodern across a wide landscape, from “high” art to “low” from market ideology to architecture, from painting to “punk” film, from video art to literature."
Re: Deadly death-cap mushrooms

Becky Lindroos
 

Eeks! Nope - I think I’ll stick to the local produce shelves until I find an experienced guide which is truly not something I’m likely to run into.

This is from Northern California
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl9aCH2QaQY
(3:47)

And this is from somewhere in England:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uey7ohDORvI
(8:51)

Both fascinating but the second more thorough.

Becky
Deadly death-cap mushrooms

Merilee Olson
 

Re: Chapter 4 - Mycelial Minds

Jeffrey Taylor
 

Emoji

On Tuesday, November 16, 2021, 06:47:34 PM EST, Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:


My late husband used to grow marijuana for personal use. He had some big lovely plants.  When we moved from San Jose back to Porterville (1976) he harvested the one big plant he had left.  He dried it and packaged it up and that was that.  One day a couple months later he made some pot tea.  Okay fine. He put it in a mason jar and put that in the refrigerator - it was just for him anyway. 

Well, either that very night or the next, I saw the jar in the fridge and thought to myself that it sure would make a nice batch of French onion soup -  (I thought it was chicken broth which I’ve regularly made myself since I was 20 or so.) -  Later that evening we were all sitting around the dining room table and I’m tasting the soup and thinking well, this is a little bland - lol!.  Tim asked what I’d used.  I started to tell him and the realization floated up into my mind -  "You dummy! You made pot soup!”

No one was impressed - .  I had to throw it all out (about 1 1/2 quarts). The kids didn’t like onion soup at it’s best and this wasn’t anything really - onion-pot soup (because tea for broth). 

Becky



> On Nov 16, 2021, at 3:55 PM, Merilee Olson <merilee.olson@...> wrote:
>
>
> I’m with you on reality being fascinating enough, Magda.  Have never been interested in psychedelics.  I tried pot eons ago but like Bill Clinton(🤣) didn’t/ couldn’t inhale. Have never smoked cigarettes and except for tiny occasional sips of dark beer, don’t like alcohol.  Caffeine doesn’t agree with me (except in chocolate). Did eat a pot-filled oatmeal cookie once, and did NOT like the effects, which kicked in while I was driving…
> On Tue, Nov 16, 2021 at 7:08 AM Magda <fotka.kalinowska@...> wrote:
> I must say that I find consciousness and reality as is fascinating enough, so I don’t do drugs at all. I might be allergic to marijuana, as it a cousin of ragweed, and I found that out the hard way a couple of times as well, so I don’t do it either. 
> Actually, my older son ordered magic mushrooms once when he was still living with us, and we were to try them together - me watching him, and then vice versa.  We had them at home for a few years, he managed to move out and get married, and plans stayed plans :).  He reported trying them not so long ago, but I never did. 
>
> Magda
>
>> On Nov 15, 2021, at 9:09 AM, David Markham <davidgmarkham@...> wrote:
>>
>> 
>> The current practice and research is being done with "micro doses". It is different from days of yore when people took much larger doses and went on a "trip" for several hours.
>>
>> I have some clients who use micro doses like once a month and report it is a big help with their mood and cognitive organization. The problem now days is that the quality control for the drug ingested and strength is not available so one never knows for sure what is being ingested.
>>
>> I, myself, have never used them. I see no need.
>>
>> Here is a great presentation by James Fadiman about the question of micro dosing and what he calls "citizen science."
>>
>> David Markham
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 15, 2021 at 2:55 AM Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:
>> Yes - I took LSD 2 times.  Long ago and far away.  My late hubby talked me in to it in 1969 (I think).  The second time was yukkie so I quit and I quit smoking pot, too.  Quite honestly I really never did like pot or any “drugs.”  I never did Psilocybin or mescaline/Peyote a hallucinogen that comes from a small cactus.
>>
>> Becky
>>
>> > On Nov 15, 2021, at 1:19 AM, Jeffrey Taylor via groups.io <jatta97=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Monday, November 15, 2021, 12:27:21 AM EST, Merilee Olson <merilee.olson@...> wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> > Scares me too much.
>> >
>> > On Sun, Nov 14, 2021 at 10:58 PM Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:
>> > Have you ever experimented with hallucinogens?  Magic Mushrooms (Psilocybin, LSD or ???) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogen
>> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_McKenna
>> >
>> > Why? (Your friends were doing it,  spiritual experience,  it sounded fun, health reasons, part of a scientific study, other?)
>> >
>> > Any opinions on if they might be beneficial to individuals with problems?
>> >
>> > *******
>> > Terence McKenna  (and Ken Kesey and Timothy Leary and
>> >
>> > https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-magic-mushrooms-22085
>> >
>> > Fwiw, psilocybin is classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning that it has a high potential for misuse and has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
>> > https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-magic-mushrooms-22085
>> >
>> > Becky
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>






Re: Chapter 4 - Mycelial Minds

Becky Lindroos
 

My late husband used to grow marijuana for personal use. He had some big lovely plants. When we moved from San Jose back to Porterville (1976) he harvested the one big plant he had left. He dried it and packaged it up and that was that. One day a couple months later he made some pot tea. Okay fine. He put it in a mason jar and put that in the refrigerator - it was just for him anyway.

Well, either that very night or the next, I saw the jar in the fridge and thought to myself that it sure would make a nice batch of French onion soup - (I thought it was chicken broth which I’ve regularly made myself since I was 20 or so.) - Later that evening we were all sitting around the dining room table and I’m tasting the soup and thinking well, this is a little bland - lol!. Tim asked what I’d used. I started to tell him and the realization floated up into my mind - "You dummy! You made pot soup!”

No one was impressed - . I had to throw it all out (about 1 1/2 quarts). The kids didn’t like onion soup at it’s best and this wasn’t anything really - onion-pot soup (because tea for broth).

Becky

On Nov 16, 2021, at 3:55 PM, Merilee Olson <merilee.olson@...> wrote:


I’m with you on reality being fascinating enough, Magda. Have never been interested in psychedelics. I tried pot eons ago but like Bill Clinton(🤣) didn’t/ couldn’t inhale. Have never smoked cigarettes and except for tiny occasional sips of dark beer, don’t like alcohol. Caffeine doesn’t agree with me (except in chocolate). Did eat a pot-filled oatmeal cookie once, and did NOT like the effects, which kicked in while I was driving…
On Tue, Nov 16, 2021 at 7:08 AM Magda <fotka.kalinowska@...> wrote:
I must say that I find consciousness and reality as is fascinating enough, so I don’t do drugs at all. I might be allergic to marijuana, as it a cousin of ragweed, and I found that out the hard way a couple of times as well, so I don’t do it either.
Actually, my older son ordered magic mushrooms once when he was still living with us, and we were to try them together - me watching him, and then vice versa. We had them at home for a few years, he managed to move out and get married, and plans stayed plans :). He reported trying them not so long ago, but I never did.

Magda

On Nov 15, 2021, at 9:09 AM, David Markham <davidgmarkham@...> wrote:


The current practice and research is being done with "micro doses". It is different from days of yore when people took much larger doses and went on a "trip" for several hours.

I have some clients who use micro doses like once a month and report it is a big help with their mood and cognitive organization. The problem now days is that the quality control for the drug ingested and strength is not available so one never knows for sure what is being ingested.

I, myself, have never used them. I see no need.

Here is a great presentation by James Fadiman about the question of micro dosing and what he calls "citizen science."

David Markham


On Mon, Nov 15, 2021 at 2:55 AM Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:
Yes - I took LSD 2 times. Long ago and far away. My late hubby talked me in to it in 1969 (I think). The second time was yukkie so I quit and I quit smoking pot, too. Quite honestly I really never did like pot or any “drugs.” I never did Psilocybin or mescaline/Peyote a hallucinogen that comes from a small cactus.

Becky

On Nov 15, 2021, at 1:19 AM, Jeffrey Taylor via groups.io <jatta97@...> wrote:



On Monday, November 15, 2021, 12:27:21 AM EST, Merilee Olson <merilee.olson@...> wrote:


Scares me too much.

On Sun, Nov 14, 2021 at 10:58 PM Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:
Have you ever experimented with hallucinogens? Magic Mushrooms (Psilocybin, LSD or ???) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_McKenna

Why? (Your friends were doing it, spiritual experience, it sounded fun, health reasons, part of a scientific study, other?)

Any opinions on if they might be beneficial to individuals with problems?

*******
Terence McKenna (and Ken Kesey and Timothy Leary and

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-magic-mushrooms-22085

Fwiw, psilocybin is classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning that it has a high potential for misuse and has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-magic-mushrooms-22085

Becky















Re: Veterans Have Become Unlikely Lobbyists in Push to Legalize Psychedelic Drugs - The New York Times

Becky Lindroos
 

It seems like a no-brainer, but what’s the downside? Vets stealing them (or getting extra) and selling them on the street? That’s going on with other, less effective, drugs anyway. Even veterinarians find their drugs being retailed on the street. Psychedelics are not a huge problem so let’s let those who need them have them. (Unless someone can give me a good reason not to.)

Becky
tom waits green grass lyrics - Google Search

Merilee Olson
 

Re: Chapter 4 - Mycelial Minds

Merilee Olson
 


I’m with you on reality being fascinating enough, Magda.  Have never been interested in psychedelics.  I tried pot eons ago but like Bill Clinton(🤣) didn’t/ couldn’t inhale. Have never smoked cigarettes and except for tiny occasional sips of dark beer, don’t like alcohol.  Caffeine doesn’t agree with me (except in chocolate). Did eat a pot-filled oatmeal cookie once, and did NOT like the effects, which kicked in while I was driving…

On Tue, Nov 16, 2021 at 7:08 AM Magda <fotka.kalinowska@...> wrote:
I must say that I find consciousness and reality as is fascinating enough, so I don’t do drugs at all. I might be allergic to marijuana, as it a cousin of ragweed, and I found that out the hard way a couple of times as well, so I don’t do it either.  
Actually, my older son ordered magic mushrooms once when he was still living with us, and we were to try them together - me watching him, and then vice versa.  We had them at home for a few years, he managed to move out and get married, and plans stayed plans :).  He reported trying them not so long ago, but I never did.  

Magda

On Nov 15, 2021, at 9:09 AM, David Markham <davidgmarkham@...> wrote:


The current practice and research is being done with "micro doses". It is different from days of yore when people took much larger doses and went on a "trip" for several hours.

I have some clients who use micro doses like once a month and report it is a big help with their mood and cognitive organization. The problem now days is that the quality control for the drug ingested and strength is not available so one never knows for sure what is being ingested. 

I, myself, have never used them. I see no need.

Here is a great presentation by James Fadiman about the question of micro dosing and what he calls "citizen science."

David Markham

On Mon, Nov 15, 2021 at 2:55 AM Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:
Yes - I took LSD 2 times.  Long ago and far away.  My late hubby talked me in to it in 1969 (I think).  The second time was yukkie so I quit and I quit smoking pot, too.  Quite honestly I really never did like pot or any “drugs.”   I never did Psilocybin or mescaline/Peyote a hallucinogen that comes from a small cactus.

Becky

> On Nov 15, 2021, at 1:19 AM, Jeffrey Taylor via groups.io <jatta97=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
>
>
>
> On Monday, November 15, 2021, 12:27:21 AM EST, Merilee Olson <merilee.olson@...> wrote:
>
>
> Scares me too much.
>
> On Sun, Nov 14, 2021 at 10:58 PM Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:
> Have you ever experimented with hallucinogens?  Magic Mushrooms (Psilocybin, LSD or ???) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogen
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_McKenna
>
> Why? (Your friends were doing it,  spiritual experience,  it sounded fun, health reasons, part of a scientific study, other?)
>
> Any opinions on if they might be beneficial to individuals with problems?
>
> *******
> Terence McKenna  (and Ken Kesey and Timothy Leary and
>
> https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-magic-mushrooms-22085
>
> Fwiw, psilocybin is classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning that it has a high potential for misuse and has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
> https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-magic-mushrooms-22085
>
> Becky
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>






Veterans Have Become Unlikely Lobbyists in Push to Legalize Psychedelic Drugs - The New York Times

Jeanne
 

Re: Chapter 4 - Mycelial Minds

Magda
 

I must say that I find consciousness and reality as is fascinating enough, so I don’t do drugs at all. I might be allergic to marijuana, as it a cousin of ragweed, and I found that out the hard way a couple of times as well, so I don’t do it either.  
Actually, my older son ordered magic mushrooms once when he was still living with us, and we were to try them together - me watching him, and then vice versa.  We had them at home for a few years, he managed to move out and get married, and plans stayed plans :).  He reported trying them not so long ago, but I never did.  

Magda

On Nov 15, 2021, at 9:09 AM, David Markham <davidgmarkham@...> wrote:


The current practice and research is being done with "micro doses". It is different from days of yore when people took much larger doses and went on a "trip" for several hours.

I have some clients who use micro doses like once a month and report it is a big help with their mood and cognitive organization. The problem now days is that the quality control for the drug ingested and strength is not available so one never knows for sure what is being ingested. 

I, myself, have never used them. I see no need.

Here is a great presentation by James Fadiman about the question of micro dosing and what he calls "citizen science."

David Markham

On Mon, Nov 15, 2021 at 2:55 AM Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:
Yes - I took LSD 2 times.  Long ago and far away.  My late hubby talked me in to it in 1969 (I think).  The second time was yukkie so I quit and I quit smoking pot, too.  Quite honestly I really never did like pot or any “drugs.”   I never did Psilocybin or mescaline/Peyote a hallucinogen that comes from a small cactus.

Becky

> On Nov 15, 2021, at 1:19 AM, Jeffrey Taylor via groups.io <jatta97=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:
>
>
>
> On Monday, November 15, 2021, 12:27:21 AM EST, Merilee Olson <merilee.olson@...> wrote:
>
>
> Scares me too much.
>
> On Sun, Nov 14, 2021 at 10:58 PM Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:
> Have you ever experimented with hallucinogens?  Magic Mushrooms (Psilocybin, LSD or ???) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogen
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_McKenna
>
> Why? (Your friends were doing it,  spiritual experience,  it sounded fun, health reasons, part of a scientific study, other?)
>
> Any opinions on if they might be beneficial to individuals with problems?
>
> *******
> Terence McKenna  (and Ken Kesey and Timothy Leary and
>
> https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-magic-mushrooms-22085
>
> Fwiw, psilocybin is classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning that it has a high potential for misuse and has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
> https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-magic-mushrooms-22085
>
> Becky
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>






Re: EL Chapter 5 Before Roots

Becky Lindroos
 

This sounds like perfect non-academic science writing for me. There’s some “meat” but it’s not got a whole lot of fiber. Otoh, it’s not all fluffy scrambled eggs. It’s descriptive with lots of nice adjectives but facts are piled up on each other. It has to be considered that it’s very near to the opening lines of the chapter and the more nitty-gritty stuff will come later. Nice opening.

Becky

On Nov 16, 2021, at 4:32 AM, Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:

From the book - second paragraph of Chapter 5:

"Before plants, land was scorched and desolate. Conditions were extreme. Temperatures fluctuated wildly and landscapes were rocky and dusty. There was nothing that we would recognize as soil. Nutrients were locked up in solid rocks and minerals, and the climate was dry. This isn’t to say that land was completely devoid of life. Crusts made up of photosynthetic bacteria, extremophile algae, and fungi were able to make a living in the open air. But the harsh conditions meant that life on Earth was overwhelmingly an aquatic event. Warm, shallow seas and lagoons teemed with algae and animals. Sea scorpions several meters long ranged the ocean floor. Trilobites plowed silty seabeds using spade-like snouts. Solitary corals started to form reefs. Mollusks thrived.”

How does that strike you for science writing? Too metaphorical or poetic in some way? Too dry? Just right?

How does Sheldrake keep you involved (assuming you are).

Becky






Re: EL: Chapter 5 "Before Roots"

Becky Lindroos
 

I kind of like it but I’m not sure why Sheldrake put it there. I thought it was a love song. Oh well.

Becky

On Nov 16, 2021, at 4:31 AM, Becky Lindroos <bekah0176@...> wrote:

Tom Waits / Kathleen Brennan

You’ll never be
Free of me
He’ll make a
tree from me

Don’t say good
Bye to me
Describe the sky
To me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXq1PBNuUt0

Any response?

Becky






EL: Chapter 5 - symbiosis and phtosynthesis

Becky Lindroos
 

The intimacy of strangers (Lynn Margolis) is front and center with symbiosis.
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-mycophiles-plea-on-merlin-sheldrakes-entangled-life/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mushroom_at_the_End_of_the_World

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2013.00134/full

How about the chapter as a whole - too much scientific detail, too little, just about right?

Are these new ideas for you?

The efficiency of mycorrhizal exchange is closely related to climate change. Could that be important?

Would you be interested in doing experiments on the results of different fungi and the plants using it? Like the strawberries or the tomatoes or bread grown with different mycorrhizal fungi.
https://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/hcol/mycorrhizae.asp.html
And it’s gone commercial! (There are several companies.)

https://bigfootmyco.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAys2MBhDOARIsAFf1D1eV1QJ3WsXSJxGFYoCIC_e9IiWutdp38sk37Q2rsjurfFcbBKwm8JEaAhGdEALw_wcB

Becky
EL Chapter 5 Before Roots

Becky Lindroos
 

From the book - second paragraph of Chapter 5:

"Before plants, land was scorched and desolate. Conditions were extreme. Temperatures fluctuated wildly and landscapes were rocky and dusty. There was nothing that we would recognize as soil. Nutrients were locked up in solid rocks and minerals, and the climate was dry. This isn’t to say that land was completely devoid of life. Crusts made up of photosynthetic bacteria, extremophile algae, and fungi were able to make a living in the open air. But the harsh conditions meant that life on Earth was overwhelmingly an aquatic event. Warm, shallow seas and lagoons teemed with algae and animals. Sea scorpions several meters long ranged the ocean floor. Trilobites plowed silty seabeds using spade-like snouts. Solitary corals started to form reefs. Mollusks thrived.”

How does that strike you for science writing? Too metaphorical or poetic in some way? Too dry? Just right?

How does Sheldrake keep you involved (assuming you are).

Becky
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