Patterns of success

This chapbook project is a brief look at the underlying patterns repeated across our wonderful, mysterious universe. It compares aspects of the concepts: Hunger, Growth, Connections, and New-worlds using the book Hunger of Memory, fungi, the brain, and the Internet as models.

1.1

HUNGER
The Agaricus Bisporus spores pictured in photo 1.1 provide an excellent place to begin our exploration of hunger. Fungal spores can remain dormant for long periods of time in some cases years. Once the environmental conditions such as temperature, moisture, and available nutrients are correct the spore begins to swell, re-hydrating and waking up. As the spore takes in water a hunger inside of it, a need to grow, to be more awakens triggering the spore to send out a hyphae in search of nutrients. This clearly displays the biologic function of hunger common to all organic life, which is a need for nutrients that can be broken down, recombined , and incorporated into its makeup. In the story Hunger of Memory Dr. Rodriguez is referring to an intellectual need. From a young age he wanted to know more to be more like his teachers. Just like the spore sends out its mycelium in search of food a student seeks out information from people who he considers wise. Hungry knowledge, and status they he sits and studies soaking in facts and concepts.

2.1

GROWTH
By taking in physical matter digesting it, breaking it down into more basic structures, which are then combined with genetic information encoded in the organisms cells in order to build more cells, or give energy to fuel the cell's other processes. Picture 2.1 shows the growth of mycelium rotting a log. These tubular growths are capable of moving moisture and nutrients throughout the fungus. In Robert Heinlein's book Stranger in a strange land he coins a term grokking this word is rooted in his martian word for drinking 'grok' means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes part of the observed-to merge, to blend, to lose personal identity in the group experience. (226)What this boils down to is taking in ideas, internalizing them, and really considering every aspect of a thing or situation, its components and relationships, its place in the patterns of life. By grokking or reflecting upon our studies our understanding grows. We can see farther both because of our intellectual fore-bearers, and because of ongoing neurogenesis as we learn and grow. Neurogenesis is interesting as it was not that long ago that it was taken as dogma that the brain does not create new cells, today we know this is not the case. Also it gives us an example of a process that ties together intellectual and physical growth. The conditions of actively learning, and the correct nutrients are required for optimal brain development.

CONNECTIONS
In picture 3.1 we see spores germinate sending out individual monokaryotic hyphae each containing one nucleus. Two or more of these must meet and connect in order to combine the genetics present in each, forming dikaryotic mycelium capable of producing fruit-bodies.
3.1

3.2

3.3

Pictures 3.2 and 3.3 show 2 different graphical representations of the Internet. Now compare the previous images to pictures 3.4 and 3.5 which respectively show a diagram of an individual neuron and a scan of a neural network created by the Golgi technique.

3.4

3.5

As you can clearly see most of the distinctive characteristics remain the same. The branching, merging pathways provide a structure that can continue to grow. The networks become more and more complex thereby allowing more ways for nutrients/information to move throughout, potentially routing around any damaged sectors.

4.1

NEW-WORLDS
As I previously mentioned the dikaryotic mycelium is now capable of forming fruitbodies. A variety of factors such as temperature, humidity, and O2 vs CO2 come into play to initiate the formation of primordia which will grow up out of the world of the soil and into the surface, as a new mushroom capable of producing spores, which can sail off on the wind in search of new-worlds to colonize. picture 4.1 shows Agaricus Bisporus fruiting off a block of colonized grain,and straw substrate. Picture 4.2 shows the life cycle of a mushroom.
4.2

In the same way a student takes knowledge from his various sources and produces a new work which can then inspire the next round of students. Dr Rodriguez story provides an excellent example of this. His recorded words, combined with my previous knowledge, and active research have come together in this chapbook project. As a teacher he continued on to influence many students. The growth of the Internet since its original inception in the 60's has done more to bring together ideas and open up new worlds of understanding than any invention since the Latin alphabet was created in the 7th century B.C. By expanding the range of information available at the touch of a finger exponentially it is now possible to sort, compare, contrast, and compile world views of billions of authors. I am only an egg, I do not grok in fullness, yet I hope reading this it will have a positive affect your own understanding and in some small way help you to grow.
-Adam Clark Overman

Hunger
"Various Images - SEM." Various Images - SEM. n.p., n.d. Web. 8 March 2013.
http://remf.dartmouth.edu/Microbiology_miscellaneous/.

"motivation." motivation (behaviour) :: Hunger -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Britannica Online Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 27 February 2013.
http://www.britannica.com.rlrcproxy.elgin.edu:5000/EBchecked/topic/394212/motivation/12697/Hun.

"feeding behaviour." feeding behaviour :: Regulation of food intake -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Britannica Online Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 27 February 2013.
http://www.britannica.com.rlrc-proxy.elgin.edu:5000/EBchecked/topic/203727/feedingbehaviour/48.

Sign. "Germination of Basidiospores of Agaricus bisporus." Germination of Basidiospores of Agaricus bisporus - Springer. Springer, n.d. Web. 8 March 2013.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:ABIM.0000018924.36868.fd.

Growth
Flynn, Paula. "Underappreciated Fungi | Horticulture and Home Pest News." Underappreciated Fungi | Horticulture and Home Pest News. n.p., n.d. Web. 7 March 2013.
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2006/4-5/fungi.html.

Heinlein, Robert A. Stranger in a Strange Land New York, Penguin Group. Uncut edition (264-266) "digestion." digestion (biology) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Britannica Online Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 4 March 2013.
http://www.britannica.com.rlrc-proxy.elgin.edu:5000/EBchecked/topic/163169/digestion.

Valente, Tony, Hidalgo, Juan, Bolea, Irene, Ramirez, Bartolom, Angls, and Neus. "Citation/Abstract." A Diet Enriched in Polyphenols and Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, LMN Diet, Induces Neurogenesis in the Subventricular Zone and Hippocampus of Adult Mouse Brain - ProQuest. ProQuest, n.d. Web. 7 March 2013.
http://search.proquest.com.rlrcproxy.elgin.edu:5000/docview/809416937/13CABE864DD64FDE551/9?ac .

Connections
Wood, Michael. "Nuclei%u2014the Core Values in a Mushroom%u2019s Life." MykoWeb: Nuclei. Mykoweb, n.d. Web. 4 March 2013.

http://www.mykoweb.com/articles/Nuclei.html.

"An Atlas of Cyberspaces - Topology Maps." An Atlas of Cyberspaces - Topology Maps. An Atlas of Cyberspaces, n.d. Web. 4 March 2013.
http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/m.dodge/cybergeography//atlas/more_topology.html. October, Revised. "Microplexes." Microplexes | URBAGRAM. URBAGRAM, n.d. Web. 8 March 2013. http://www.urbagram.net/v1/show/Microplexes.

Copeland, Jack. "Turing's Neural Networks of 1948." AlanTuring.net Turing's Neural Networks. Alanturing, n.d. Web. 4 March 2013. http://www.alanturing.net/turing_archive/pages/reference articles/connectionism/Turing's neural.

New-worlds
"Adaptable Button Mushroom Serves Up Biomass-Degrading Genes Critical to Managing the Planet%u2019s Carbon Stores." DOE Joint Genome Institute: Adaptable
Button Mushroom Serves Up Biomass-Degrading Genes Critical to Managing the Planets Carbon

DOE Joint Genome Institute: Adaptable Button Mushroom Serves Up Biomass, n.d. Web. 4 March 2013.
Stores. http://www.jgi.doe.gov/News/news_12_10_08.html.

"What came first? the mushroom or the spores." What came first? the mushroom or the spores. n.p., n.d. Web. 8 March 2013.
http://www.mushbox.co/blog.asp?action=post&id=2&/.

"A Brief History of the Internet." A Brief History of the Internet. n.p., n.d. Web. 7 March 2013.
http://walthowe.com/navnet/history.html.

"Latin alphabet." Latin alphabet -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Britannica Online Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 8 March 2013.
http://www.britannica.com.rlrcproxy.elgin.edu:5000/EBchecked/topic/331677/Latin-alphabet.