Lessons from fungi on markets and economics | Toby Kiers

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Resource inequality is one of our greatest challenges, but it's not unique to humans. Like us, mycorrhizal fungi that live in plant and tree roots strategically trade, steal and withhold resources, displaying remarkable parallels to humans in their capacity to be opportunistic (and sometimes ruthless) — all in the absence of cognition. In a mind-blowing talk, evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers shares what fungi networks and relationships reveal about human economies, and what they can tell us about inequality.

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16 Comments on Lessons from fungi on markets and economics | Toby Kiers

  1. I think this is it people…I think we’ve hit the ceiling, I mean, where could we go from here?

    Don’t get me wrong, it was good while it lasted but these Ted Talks man, they’re just getting ridiculous at this point. Maybe it’s a symptom of a broader problem…maybe we need to click the reset button.

  2. Ahhh….
    But yet you say none of the underground evolution contains a brain.
    Moreso….
    As the animal…
    A will to survive.

    You can not compare the human in the same way.

    In addition …
    You never mentioned the heart.

    This is where the human differs from your evaluation and your evaluation seems to be more in line with the robot and the fungi.

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