Hi secret agents,
Are you listening? What are you listening to?
underground network
secret communications
sent via tree roots
I’m fascinated with all of the science around how trees communicate with each other. It’s incredibly sophisticated! Trees, even of different species, can send messages and even nutrients to each other through underground root systems, often mediated by fungi that act as conductors and toll road operators.
Richard Grant has a compelling article about this in the March 2018 issue of The Smithsonian.
Thinking about tree communications leads to me wondering about idea transmission mechanisms. We humans, the self-centered creatures that we are, tend to assume that ideas spread from human brain to human brain. But what if there is an unseen network?
What if the muse is really the network through which trees and other living organisms pass ideas onto us, that we are then responsible for shaping and putting out into the world? Perhaps we are merely nodes in a natural communication system.
What do you think?
Be the weird you want to see in the world!
Cheers,
Jason
P.S. My online shop with prints, cards, t-shirts, books, ebooks, and other merch will open on February 17th!
There's a Netflix series called 'Fantastic Funghi' - I recommend it if you haven't seen it!