Entangled Life: 8 key ideas
The core ideas of Entangled Life, each in under a minute, written in our own words. Want the full depth? Get the book.
- IDEA 1 OF 8
Fungi shape the living world
Sheldrake argues that fungi are among the most important and least understood forms of life.
They help plants grow, break down dead matter and connect living things in ways we are only beginning to see.
- IDEA 2 OF 8
Fungi grow as networks
Sheldrake explains that most of a fungus lives as mycelium, a web of fine threads spread through soil or wood.
Mushrooms are only the fruiting bodies of these hidden networks.
- IDEA 3 OF 8
Fungi partner with plants
Sheldrake describes mycorrhizal fungi, which live in and around plant roots.
They help plants get water and nutrients in exchange for sugars, a partnership that may have helped plants first colonise land.
- IDEA 4 OF 8
Plants may share through fungi
Sheldrake discusses research suggesting that fungal networks can link plants and pass nutrients between them, sometimes called the wood wide web.
He notes that scientists still debate how much this happens.
- IDEA 5 OF 8
Lichens are partnerships
Sheldrake describes lichens, which form when fungi and algae or bacteria live together as one organism.
They challenge the idea that living things are always separate individuals. Each partner gains something from the other.
- IDEA 6 OF 8
Some fungi change minds
Sheldrake describes fungi that can alter the behaviour of insects, and compounds from fungi that affect human minds.
He uses these to explore how fungi interact with other creatures. The fungi seem to have a deep influence on other lives.
- IDEA 7 OF 8
Fungi can clean up waste
Sheldrake describes how some fungi can break down pollutants and even certain plastics.
Researchers hope to use them to help clean damaged environments. This shows how fungi take apart tough materials that few other living things can handle.
- IDEA 8 OF 8
Fungi solve problems without brains
Sheldrake suggests that fungal networks can find efficient routes and respond to their surroundings.
He asks whether this counts as a kind of intelligence. He leaves the question open, since fungi have no brain in the usual sense.
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