Wisdom Builder
Wisdom Mix
Topic:
Fungi
Timeless ideas at the intersections of science, philosophy, critical thinking, and history.
~
7 minutes
MODE:
Fungi: Timeless ideas at the intersections of science, philosophy, critical thinking, and history.
Philosophy begins in wonder, but matures in evidence, humility, and the courage to keep refining what we believe.
Wisdom Mix.
Here are 5 random key ideas and takeaways.
Idea 1.
From History: ~1.75 billion years ago (+/- 50 million).
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LECA is the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor. LECA reproduced sexually pushing the mixing of DNA back before 1.75 billion years ago.
Subject: Evolution.
By 1.75 billion years ago, sexual reproduction emerged. Two single cells meet, merge, and then begin one of nature’s wildest tricks: building a body by dividing, specializing, and cooperating. First one cell becomes two, then four, then eight, then a little ball, then layers, tissues, organs, nerves, memory, emotion, and eventually a being that can look up and wonder where it came from.
Idea 2.
From History: From 251.902 to 66.0 million years ago..
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The Mesozoic era starts with the end-Permian mass extinction 252 million years ago. Dinosaurs ruled over all, including us. It ends the reign of dinosaurs with the K–Pg extinction 66 million years ago.
Subject: Evolution.
The Mesozoic era starts with the end-Permian mass extinction 252 million years ago ending the reign of our synapsid ancestors. Within it, it includes the end-Triassic extinction 201 million years ago and the Toarcian environmental crisis 183 million years ago. The Mesozoic era ends the reign of dinosaurs with the K–Pg extinction 66 million years ago.
Idea 3.
From History: 3.73 Billion Years Ago (after LUCA).
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Prokaryotes are nucleus-free cells that include both bacteria and archaea — the two lineages that split shortly after LUCA.
Subject: Evolution.
“Prokaryote” is a structural description, not a single evolutionary branch. After LUCA, life divided into bacteria and archaea, and these prokaryotic lineages dominated Earth for billions of years before complex eukaryotic life emerged.
Idea 4.
From History: ~252 MYA (Permian–Triassic boundary).
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At 252 million years ago, the greatest extinction ends the world as known, fungi begin again.
Subject: Fungal Evolution.
The mass extinction at 252 million years ago marks the Permian to Triassic boundary. Fungi are not just participants in ecosystems — they help reset the ground.
Idea 5.
From History: ~444 Million Years Ago.
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The Ordovician–Silurian extinction shows how climate change can reshape evolution by collapsing old ecosystems and opening space for new life.
Subject: Evolution.
About 444 million years ago, global cooling locked water in ice, sea levels fell, and shallow marine habitats vanished. Most life still lived in the oceans, so the damage was enormous. Yet after the collapse, life reorganized. Evolution did not stop; it changed direction.