Walking home from a long day of studies, with the gears rapidly turning in the brain, my nose was the first to catch the scent of an amazing dinner being prepared. I recently read that our sense of scent was a major factor in the development of our brain (A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman). The dinner being prepared, Fuling Noodle Soup. Fuling, a fungus from pine root, was discovered by Tao Hong-Jing (456-536 CE), a Taoist master, alchemist and herbalist looking for the elixir of immortality. He left no corpse.
A major ingredient in this giant theoretical pot of stew called 'Evo-Devo' which should not be omitted is the consideration of mycelium. The medicinal properties of mushrooms have been utilized for thousands of years. It has recently been documented that these 'soil magicians' were the first organisms to land here, approximately 1.3 billion years ago. Plants did not appear until a few hundred-million years later. We are most closely related to mushrooms than any other species (Stamets, TED talks). Their usefulness as antibiotics, pesticides, habit restoration and for bioremediation, are only a few of the amazing results discovered from current research. Because they do not need sunlight to grow, it is believed that the fungus 'inherited the earth' after an asteroid impact, 65 million years ago (Stamets). The network system formed by the growth of mycelium, the Earth's natural 'internet', has very similar properties to how dark matter forms(Stamets). Entire microbial universes are developed throughout these neurological networks. It has also been theorized that spoken language developed from synesthesia, the blurring of boundaries between the senses, caused by the medicinal use of mushrooms, which led to the development of spoken language (T. McKenna).
After finishing my delicious bowl of Fuling, still finding myself in mortal form (more research needed into what additional herbs Tao Hong-Jing must have discovered), resting my head on the pillow for a much needed bit of slumber, I find it very difficult not to consider the role of these multi-faceted magicians in our evolutionary development.
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