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I Survived the “Destroying Angel” (2006)

blog.mycology.cornell.edu

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Re: I Survived the “Destroying Angel” (2006)

#171

Post by AlanYx »

peanutz454 wrote: post #95
dmitrybrant wrote: post #81

I grew up in Russia, and like in many other Slavic cultures, mushroom foraging was a time-honored family affair. Some of my fondest memories are of picking mushrooms with my grandmother, who taught me all I know about identifying them. I still forage them all the time here in the States. I'm sorry, but it continues to baffle me how someone can mistake an Amanita for a Coprinus (or Agaricus). To my eyes they're as dif…

> when there are so many great tastes and experiences right there at your fingertips. As someone who has cooked with exactly one kind of mushroom (button) I find this intriguing. I thought all mushrooms taste more or less the same. I may have eaten something at a restaurant, but don't remember anything unique.

Part of the reason some people think mushrooms taste the same is because many common supermarket mushrooms in the west do taste similar.

In particular, three of the most common western supermarket mushrooms (button, cremini, and portobello) are actually all the same species (Agaricus bisporus). They just look different.

Shiitakes are a different species and do taste different, but are somewhat related; at one point in the past they were classified in the agaricus genus.

Once you venture outside those, tastes and textures rapidly diverge. Truffles and morels are definitely memorable if you've never had them before.

Re: I Survived the “Destroying Angel” (2006)

#172

Post by gatherhunterer »

Enginerrrd wrote: post #90
gatherhunterer wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ending almost reads like satire. He was picturing a happy, smiling liver and wonders whether it was that positive visualization or the massive doses of penicillin that did the trick? It’s like something from the Onion.

To be fair, I've watched a lot of people on the brink of death. (I was a paramedic for a time.) You could often tell the ones that would die despite very similar presentation to one's that would live. The difference was the ones that would live had fight in their eyes. You see that too with folks waiting for a loved one to get there before they die. They can push it back for hours or even days if they've got the figh…

The author is not considering the efficacy of physiological factors. He is endorsing magic, prayer and amateur medical research as realistic alternatives to medicine.

Re: I Survived the “Destroying Angel” (2006)

#173

Post by Gatsky »

rkachowski wrote: post #169
Gatsky wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a pretty uncharitable comment friend... presumably you aren't the intended audience for this article. Anyway, you've never met anyone like this before? I meet people like this all the time. They are much more interesting than those devoted to hyper-rational atheism AKA the Times New Roman of metaphysics. For one, these 'half-baked' types tend to be staggered by genuinely marvelous things, rather than just the…

No, I have never met a particle physicist that meditated his way into eating the notorious death cap and thanked god and spirituality for saving him. I find it pretty sad that you'd preclude rational people from being able to experience genuinely marvelous things. I can tell you that there is a whole spectrum of rational thought, including both your hyper rational and 'interesting' people. I don't think you actually…

Your original comment was drawing generalisations about a certain character of thought from one person's experience. Obviously, I am not asking if you have met another particle physicist with this specific set of eccentricities.

Nor do I preclude anything about the scope or validity of someone's experiences, unlike your original comment.

Re: I Survived the “Destroying Angel” (2006)

#174

Post by hc91 »

The author seems highly irresponsible. You don't just play around with mushrooms that you pick yourself from the woods - and you especially not cook / eat them, without double / triple checking them. When you are in doubt - you simply avoid eating them and taking risks. What happened to him is 100% his fault and was easily avoidable, I cannot have sympathy for that.

Re: I Survived the “Destroying Angel” (2006)

#175

Post by nlh »

tsimionescu wrote: post #80
nlh wrote: post #76

Can someone give me a quick explainer on why it’s appealing to pick & eat ANY mushrooms in the wild at all? I’m probably just a dumb “city kid”, but I don’t see the appeal whatsoever. I’d love to get some perspective on why folks enjoy this.

As a city kid who likes doing this, there are two aspects for me. One is simply the game of going through the forest and carefully scanning the ground, looking at bunches of leaves - is that just leaves? Or a young mushroom just coming out? Then, when you do find a mushroom, checking if it's firm and good to eat, enjoying the alien aspect of the thing etc. The other aspect is the wonderful taste of these. In my count…

Awesome reply - exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much! That does sound quite cool :)

Re: I Survived the “Destroying Angel” (2006)

#176

Post by nlh »

forgotmypw3 wrote: post #86
nlh wrote: post #76

Can someone give me a quick explainer on why it’s appealing to pick & eat ANY mushrooms in the wild at all? I’m probably just a dumb “city kid”, but I don’t see the appeal whatsoever. I’d love to get some perspective on why folks enjoy this.

They're really tasty and good for you. There's also a deep primal satisfaction from eating something directly from the wild earth. It's also a long-standing tradition in many cultures. If you know what you're doing and are very careful and cautious, it is a pretty low-risk activity.

Great answer. Thanks!

Re: I Survived the “Destroying Angel” (2006)

#177

Post by fortran77 »

tapland wrote: post #49
Thorrez wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was in the section wondering why he survived but the other 2 people in the same hospital didn't. Would those 2 people have gotten different doctors or gotten less effort from the doctors?

"I found out that of three people admitted in 2006 to Strong Memorial with Amanita poisoning, I am the only one to have survived; 66% died." The death rate for Mushroom Poisoning in the US was apparently something like 2.9 per year since year 2000. He's really just discounting the 99.something% who survive for effect because two died in the hospital he was at. If that is even true.

It's not like the doctors, nurses, and other staff are at liberty to release medical information about the other patients he encounters. So all he heard, at best, were anecdotes.

Re: I Survived the “Destroying Angel” (2006)

#178

Post by kerkeslager »

Udo wrote: post #130
rkachowski wrote: post #117

The author seems to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the bible (referencing individual psalms by number), wears a cross around his neck to hospital, practises all kinds of eastern religious meditations (recommends "Awaken the Healing Light of the Tao" in the midst of describing himself in a diaper on a CAT scan machine). On top of this he works as a particle accelerator operator at cornell. And still eats some of th…

I know it's maybe even the norm, but I can't get my head around this disconnect between doing deep scientific work on the one hand and having such a profoundly mystical world view that seems to sometimes eschew rational reflections on cause-and-effect. > Why did I live and the rest not live? There are many factors at play. Among those not listed by the author are: age, genetics and biochemical happenstances, and pure…

> If we're going to assign miracle status to improbable events, it should probably not be those that fall within the 20-50% range.

It's telling, for example, that God never heals amputees.

This illogic is fairly harmless in the OP's situation--if his belief in a God makes him happy, good for him I guess. But a lot of my atheist friends have had serious accidents or illnesses where religious people have tried to use it as on opportunity to proselytize. "Hey, you survived X horrible event, don't you think that means someone was looking out for you?" Well, if someone is looking out for us, they're doing a crap job, or X horrible event wouldn't have happened in the first place. The last thing I want when I'm lying in a hospital bed in pain is to hear about your imaginary friend.

Re: I Survived the “Destroying Angel” (2006)

#179

Post by Apocryphon »

rkachowski wrote: post #169
Gatsky wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a pretty uncharitable comment friend... presumably you aren't the intended audience for this article. Anyway, you've never met anyone like this before? I meet people like this all the time. They are much more interesting than those devoted to hyper-rational atheism AKA the Times New Roman of metaphysics. For one, these 'half-baked' types tend to be staggered by genuinely marvelous things, rather than just the…

No, I have never met a particle physicist that meditated his way into eating the notorious death cap and thanked god and spirituality for saving him. I find it pretty sad that you'd preclude rational people from being able to experience genuinely marvelous things. I can tell you that there is a whole spectrum of rational thought, including both your hyper rational and 'interesting' people. I don't think you actually…

"I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

Re: I Survived the “Destroying Angel” (2006)

#180

Post by somehnguy »

mda wrote: post #166
somehnguy wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chanterelles are great because there are only 2 other mushrooms that are even close in resemblance and neither of them is particularly poisonous. One just tastes bad and the other will cause a stomach ache. They're also very easy to tell apart from the real deal even for a novice like me. Harvested and ate a bunch a few weekends ago with a buddy. Delicious.

You mean Omphalotus olearius and Hygrophoropsis aurantica? First one could be very nasty, maybe not deadly but very painful. Easily possible to confuse with Cantharellus cibarius, See https://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(15)00475-5/pdf

Yup the Jack 'o Lantern and False Chanterelle. I misremembered, I guess it is more than a mild stomach ache (but still not likely to really hurt you). But it looks nothing like the chanterelle as long as your criteria includes more than 'its orange'.
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