The Fungal Evangelist Who Would Save the Bees

http://nautil.us/issue/90/something-green/the-fungal-evangelist-who-would-save-the-bees

by dnetesn • 6 years ago

60 20 6 years ago

For those interested in learning more about Stamets and his fungal endeavors, I recommend listening/watching the JRE episode with him (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ6Ym719urg) as well as the Tim Ferris Show episode (https://tim.blog/2018/10/11/paul-stamets/). Fascinating individual.

mr_overalls• 6 years ago

Stamets is a fascinating & passionate guy, but it's worth remembering that he makes a lot of claims that aren't necessarily backed up by research (Stamets himself has only a bachelor's degree).

https://www.jncas.org/doi/full/10.7572/2167-5880-130.1.16

And some of his claims are just plain pseudoscience, i.e. his claims on the Joe Rogan Show about "entering the multiverse" via psilocybin, the Stoned Ape theory, etc.

https://psychedelictimes.com/paul-stamets-psilocybin-stories...

RosanaAnaDana• 6 years ago

I feel like I have to take this reminder to reddit on a regular basis. The job of an evangelist isn't necessarily to get it right, but to get people excited. Stamets does that, but I wouldn't rely on him as a source for any scientific research or information.

tcbawo• 6 years ago

I can't speak for Stamets, but I wouldn't disqualify someone as an authority in a field due to lack of degree. For example, Agner Fog is an anthropologist who is also a frequently cited authority on x86 instruction timing and optimization.

bagacrap• 6 years ago

I think the gp is disqualifying Stamets as an authority because he makes claims that are poorly supported by evidence. I agree with this assessment. He also happens to have no formal qualifications. So from where does he derive his authority? And if he has no authority, why is an article that is based on his authority interesting? I agree with gp that he's interesting, but he's also a salesman for fungi --- literally.

For example, he sells lions mane extracts which promise to improve memory and cognitive function. All of the science in this area is based on mouse studies. Stamets asserts this "translates from mice to humans," and leaves it at that. He makes statements such as "a Japanese researcher postulated" or "there are several clinical trials out there" (without commenting on their design or even conclusions). So while nothing he says is a lie, everything he says is meant to point to a certain conclusion despite a dramatic lack of direct evidence. If lions mane really helped that much, you'd think it would be easy to determine that, because given it's safety profile it should be easy to run a study on humans.

runarberg• 6 years ago

See also Jane Goodall who was awarded her degree only after her groundbreaking discoveries about non-human primate behavior.

tastyfreeze2• 6 years ago

Many of his claims for medicinal and environmental use of fungi are backed by independent research. Talking about some "out there" ideas doesnt disqualify everything somebody says.

mykowebhn• 6 years ago

Remember Stamets owns a company that sells a lot of these fungal medicinal products, so I would question his impartiality when making any scientific claims.

stopyellingatme• 6 years ago

This man has been studying/researching Fungi his entire life. Very interesting, well spoken, human.

seabj0rn• 6 years ago

Learning about Stamets and reading his books opened up a whole new appreciation of nature for me. Starting with learning how to identify wild edible mushrooms, you then have to learn about different types of trees, seasonal patterns, weather, etc. It’s a great hobby that helps you learn about the interconnectedness of everything in nature while benefitting from delicious and healthy treats along the way. One of the most fun memories of this last year was stumbling across a patch of morels in the spring (one of the rarest and most delicious mushrooms that can only be found in the wild for a few weeks in early spring). I’ve even started making some of the extracts described in this article at home (tinctures of reishi, chaga, and lion’s mane) and enjoy sharing them with friends and family.

tastyfreeze2• 6 years ago

If you don't have it already his book "Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms" is an indispensable guide for growing many species of mushrooms, including morels, at any scale. Coincidentally, it contains his observation of bees sucking on King Stropharia mycelium before the insight they might be doing it to self medicate.

ChrisMarshallNY• 6 years ago

That's a fascinating story, and I hope it bears fruit. It does seem quite sensationalist, though, so we'll have to see.

Fungi can also be very, very bad. I remember some nightmare diseases, when I lived in Africa.

ct0• 6 years ago

None of the bees on his website are honey bees interestingly enough. If he can develop a additive to feed the bees before winter that specifically targets varroa, I'd be interested in trying it out. There are plenty of treatment options out there, and some are even natural. His bee feeder is clearly not designed by someone who keeps bees though. Open feeding like that can cause the spread of varroa.

ianai2• 6 years ago

It’d be worth trying to communicate a better design to him.

cibritzio• 6 years ago

The name rung a bell, and I realized Michael Pollan also visited Stamets for his recent book 'How to Change Your Mind'. Pollan also recites the same anecdote of Stamets's climbing a tree while tripping on psilocybin and getting caught in a lightning storm. I suppose the man, even if questionably credentialed, has sufficient cachet among the mycological community to make him an almost required stop on any survey of the subject.

The Fungal Evangelist Who Would Save the Bees

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