1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Entangled Life
Not long after publishing Entangled Life, biologist Merlin Sheldrake made a meal out of two copies of the book. He dampened the pages of the first copy, inoculated it with fungal spores, and feasted on the mushrooms that burst from its pages. He then macerated the pages of the second copy and fermented them into a beer he drank.
Sheldrake’s process of transforming these copies of his book embodies the themes he explores throughout its chapters. He examines what we know and don’t yet know about fungi, these mysterious organisms that transform their surroundings—and us. He argues that **fungi...
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Entangled Life Summary Part 1: Fungal Biology
Fungi are their own kingdom of organisms—they’re neither plants nor animals. Sheldrake argues that although the field of mycology (the study of fungi) is growing, many aspects of fungal biology remain a mystery. Experts estimate that we’ve only formally described 6% of all fungi species. (Shortform note: This percentage is only slightly lower than the percentage of all formally described species: Experts estimate that of all the species of organisms that exist, scientists have only formally described 10% of them. Some claim this low overall percentage is a problem because it’s hard to conserve biodiversity when we don’t know what to conserve.)
According to Sheldrake, fungi are understudied for two main reasons. First, fungi are hard to access because many of them live underground. Second, the study of fungi requires various types of biologists to collaborate since fungi’s lives are deeply intertwined with those of other organisms—but it’s rare for biologists to collaborate with researchers outside their own subfield (such as...
Entangled Life Summary Part 2: Why Fungi Matter
So far, we’ve explored the world of fungal biology. Next, we’ll explore the impact of fungal biology—in other words, why fungi matter and why it’s important to further invest in mycology. We’ve organized this section into three reasons why fungi matter. We’ll begin with the abstract world of ideas, describing how fungi expand our imaginations. Next, we’ll describe why all life on Earth depends on fungi. Finally, we’ll examine the potential of fungi to address various modern-day problems.
Reason 1: Fungi Expand Our Imaginations
According to Sheldrake, fungi expand our imaginations, pushing us to consider new ways of thinking about ourselves, other people, and non-human beings. Here, we’ll explore two concepts that fungi challenge us to question: individuality and intelligence.
Concept 1: Individuality
Sheldrake claims that we tend to think of an organism as an individual contained within the borders of its flesh. The concept of individuality presumes that being physically separate makes organisms independent actors. For instance, because you’re assumed to be an individual, you’re legally responsible for your choices. (Shortform note: This view that...
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Shortform Exercise: Review What You’ve Learned From Entangled Life
Take some time to review some of your main takeaways from Entangled Life.
The author details six properties of fungi: their organization, growth, responses to stimuli, methods of reproduction, methods of processing energy, and abilities to maintain homeostasis. Which of these properties of fungi did you find most surprising or interesting? Why?
