Fungi Cyborgs

Hi,

>Jamal wrote:
>First there was the fungus.
>fungus was the first to colonize land about one and a
>half billion years ago.

No! Photosynthetic plants first colonised land. Fungi naturally followed.
Land fungi survives by living off the detritus matter from photosynthetic
plants. It was their carbon source. Without plants there was no decaying
matter inland and without decaying matter there is no fungi.

>There may have even been huge mushroom like forests that covered the Earth at
>some time.

Mushroom forests would have existed if the sun was blocked out. Say from an
asteroid impact. Even then it would have been temporary (6 months to 2
years) until the dust cleared, and about a foot high at the most.

>The fungus transformed the surface and made it
>habitable for other types of life.

OMG No! Photosynthetic plants did that, not fungi.

>They broke down the surface rocks for minerals and organic matter that
>was not yet incorporated into the biosphere.

Hmmm not so much. Lichens would have been the main contibutors.

>Thus the first soils were probably created.

No. Plants make virtually all of the soil, followed by Lichens. Fungi just
live in it. In fact, fungi are responsible for reducing the amount of soil
because they consume it, releasing Carbon dioxide.

>guess that other fungi may have had chemical or other
>sources of energy.

Assuming you're talking about a time without animals.
If you have examples please share. It would be interesting to know.

>we will eventually move to any and
>every one of the 9 planets 70+ moons, 40,000+
>asteroids, and millions or billions of comets.
>Some of these may
>even produce single celled organisms

Your argument requires dramitic evolutionary changes and implies we'll
retain our humanity. I strongly disagree. I cannot accept a multicellular
human evolving into a unicellular organism and still retaining its humanity.

>Various factories, organisms, and institutions will
>become the new "organelles" and "organs"

Have you read my page on Autopoetic systems?:
http://www.geocities.com/alt_cosmos/poiesis.html
You are describing exactly what I wrote but going one step too far. You are
assuming we will evolve into cyborgs.

>In addition, these systems will coevolve with their environments until
>they become optimally compatible.

You're assuming the systems are self-regulating and won't destroy their
environments in the process. Humans have an unfortunate habit of destroying
their local environments before moving on.

>It will be
>this cyborganic organism, the new "kingdom" of life
>that will be able to spread among the stars.

The term you're after is "Domain" not "kingdom". It is one step above
kingdom in the Kingdom, Phylum, Class system.

And I strongly disagree with the last part. You are implying there is an
"inhibitor" that is stopping us from leaving out planetary system until we
evolve into cyborgs. You are also implying an "attractor" that will force
us to become cyborgs.

Michael
http://www.geocities.com/alt_cosmos/index.html