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Long before trees overtook the land, Earth was covered by prototaxites (2013)

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Re: Long before trees overtook the land, Earth was covered by prototaxites (2013)

#31

Post by comboy »

tsunamifury wrote: post #2

I think it’s wild and deeply inspiring to imagine how the surface of the earth had radically different forms over billions of years. Huge landscapes of unrotted dead plants. Then massive landscapes of fungus and decomposing bacteria breaking that down into dirt. And on and on. I think it is wise to understand that earth has been through many eras and is not as homeostatic as our narrowly imagined “natural” state we s…

> unrotted dead plants

That happened with trees because cellulose was new, but I don't think there would be an issue with plants which cells have been around for a long time.

But maybe I'm missing something in which case I'm happy to learn.

Re: Long before trees overtook the land, Earth was covered by prototaxites (2013)

#32

Post by avgcorrection »

tsunamifury wrote: post #2

I think it’s wild and deeply inspiring to imagine how the surface of the earth had radically different forms over billions of years. Huge landscapes of unrotted dead plants. Then massive landscapes of fungus and decomposing bacteria breaking that down into dirt. And on and on. I think it is wise to understand that earth has been through many eras and is not as homeostatic as our narrowly imagined “natural” state we s…

On the blip of the radar that is Human Civilization, it is abssolutely appropriate to be “naturalistic” since the organisms on this current Earth are very sensitive to sudden changes one way or the other.

But philosophically speaking or as hypothetical interestellar gods who live for millions of years then yes, worrying about what’s “natural” as we currently conceive it is narrow-minded.

Re: Long before trees overtook the land, Earth was covered by prototaxites (2013)

#33

Post by krisoft »

tarentel wrote: post #14
turnsout wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation needed! The Aspen page on Wikipedia doesn't mention fungi at all.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(tree)

It feels this part is what they are asking citation for: "Aspens are weird enough that they may be thought of more like a fungus with tree-like fruiting bodies rather than trees per se". At least the second sentence of their comment seems to suggest that.

I read the page you kindly linked but I'm not seeing anything about Aspens being considered a fungus with tree-like fruiting bodies..

Re: Long before trees overtook the land, Earth was covered by prototaxites (2013)

#34

Post by mrbungie »

tsunamifury wrote: post #20
rektide wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really like this comment & it has a lot going for it. At the same time I think it's also worth pointing out that earth has likely never had as diverse an ecosystem as it has this millennium. The tree of life has become incredibly wide & complex. The naturalist tendency doesn't have to be as static as portrayed here. Nature itself is such a dynamic & changing system death & population booms chasing each other around…

Adam Curtis’ “All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace” theorized that that emerging chaotic state mixed with our recent technological emergence has lead us to believe we can “contain the chaos” of this highly sophisticated system. He quite amazingly illustrates over 3 hours that we falsely believe that earth is an unchanging systematic snow globe rather than a chaotic system. And the more we try to control it, t…

Hah, that sounds like typical human hubris. To think that we as humans can control the complexity of Earth when we barely control ourselves.

PS: Not suggesting anything about climate change, I'm just amused the comment parent makes.

Re: Long before trees overtook the land, Earth was covered by prototaxites (2013)

#35

Post by yazzku »

bodhi_mind wrote: post #12
tsunamifury wrote: post #2

I think it’s wild and deeply inspiring to imagine how the surface of the earth had radically different forms over billions of years. Huge landscapes of unrotted dead plants. Then massive landscapes of fungus and decomposing bacteria breaking that down into dirt. And on and on. I think it is wise to understand that earth has been through many eras and is not as homeostatic as our narrowly imagined “natural” state we s…

It’s saddening that a comment like this needs to disclaim that it’s not anti climate change. I get it, I’ve posted things in the past that were attacked as anti climate change and I was perplexed. My gut tells me there are just people that like to stir up trouble and will post “enraging” things on anything really. It’s unfortunately discouraging and makes me not want to engage in social media.

Don't worry, this is not social media; VC does the talk.

Re: Long before trees overtook the land, Earth was covered by prototaxites (2013)

#37

Post by izzydata »

tsunamifury wrote: post #2

I think it’s wild and deeply inspiring to imagine how the surface of the earth had radically different forms over billions of years. Huge landscapes of unrotted dead plants. Then massive landscapes of fungus and decomposing bacteria breaking that down into dirt. And on and on. I think it is wise to understand that earth has been through many eras and is not as homeostatic as our narrowly imagined “natural” state we s…

And then after millions of years and all of the biological matter turning into oil we will eventually use it all up within ~300-400 years. The era that humans will utilize this kind of gasoline combustion is such a tiny blip of the whole human history, but today it seems like civilization can't possibly exist without it.

I don't see how airplanes are even going to exist for mass transit and cargo 200 years from now or how we will ever escape Earths gravity again without building some kind of space elevator before we run out.

Re: Long before trees overtook the land, Earth was covered by prototaxites (2013)

#39

Post by yazzku »

excalibur wrote: post #17

> “A 6-metre fungus would be odd enough in the modern world, but at least we are used to trees quite a bit bigger,” says [geophysicist Kevin] Boyce. “Plants at that time were a few feet tall, invertebrate animals were small, and there were no terrestrial vertebrates. This fossil would have been all the more striking in such a diminutive landscape.” Throw in a turtle invasion and a time traveling plumber, and you've g…

Shigeru Miyamoto is the real MVP.

Re: Long before trees overtook the land, Earth was covered by prototaxites (2013)

#40

Post by technothrasher »

shisisms wrote: post #4
tsunamifury wrote: post #2

I think it’s wild and deeply inspiring to imagine how the surface of the earth had radically different forms over billions of years. Huge landscapes of unrotted dead plants. Then massive landscapes of fungus and decomposing bacteria breaking that down into dirt. And on and on. I think it is wise to understand that earth has been through many eras and is not as homeostatic as our narrowly imagined “natural” state we s…

Totally agree. And beyond that human life assumes it’s own sentience through an incredibly narrow view. Isn’t it fair/logical to assume that if giant mushrooms did over the earth that given the passing of considerable time they’ve likely evolved to a far more considerable state of intelligence/harmony than humans have. Their survivability/adaptability being an illustration. Likewise, one ends up sounding like an anti…

> Isn’t it fair/logical to assume that if giant mushrooms did over the earth that given the passing of considerable time they’ve likely evolved to a far more considerable state of intelligence/harmony than humans have.

No? Intelligence isn't needed for a stable evolutionary state to exist in an organism. You would have define what you mean by intelligence and then show evidence of that before it would be reasonable to make that assumption.

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