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Mycelial Networks — Paul Stamets

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A largely self-taught mycologist has spent decades arguing that fungal networks underground behave like a kind of information system, comparing them to neural nets and the internet. Researchers who study those networks directly say the comparison runs ahead of the evidence.

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Worth knowing · 1 of 5
Who is he, and what's his background?
A mycologist with a bachelor's degree from Evergreen State College, largely self-taught beyond that, who founded a mushroom cultivation company in 1980 and has spent over four decades studying and writing about fungi.
Worth knowing · 2 of 5
What is mycelium, and what does he argue about its networks?
Mycelium is the thread-like underground body of a fungus. In his book 'Mycelium Running' (2005), he argued these branching networks function like a natural information-processing system, drawing repeated comparisons to neural networks and the internet.
Worth knowing · 3 of 5
What has he actually contributed that's widely credited?
He is credited with practical work in mushroom cultivation and in mycoremediation, using fungi to help break down pollutants in soil, along with patents and research on fungal compounds, some later studied for antiviral activity.
Worth knowing · 4 of 5
What do mycorrhizal researchers say about the 'internet' framing?
A 2023 review by forest researchers found that claims of widespread, information-sharing fungal networks between trees are supported in only a narrow set of studied forest types, and that popular accounts, including his, have outpaced what's been directly tested.
Worth knowing · 5 of 5
Where do critics separate his science from his marketing?
Critics distinguish his genuine mycology from his supplement business, arguing that his company's health claims for mushroom products go beyond what peer-reviewed research currently supports, even where his underlying fungal science is sound.
Words to know
MyceliumThe branching network of fine threads that makes up the main body of a fungus, usually hidden underground or in wood.
Mycorrhizal networkA web formed when fungi connect to multiple plant roots at once, sometimes linking separate plants underground.
MycoremediationUsing fungi to break down or filter out pollutants from contaminated soil or water.
More words
Positive citation biasA pattern where studies or claims supporting a popular idea get cited far more than ones that complicate it.
A voice · 1 of 3
Paul Stamets · Mycologist who popularized the networks

In 'Mycelium Running' (2005) and later talks, he argued that fungal mycelium functions as a natural information-sharing network comparable to neural tissue or the internet, and has promoted fungi's potential in ecological remediation and pharmaceutical research.

A voice · 2 of 3
Suzanne Simard · Forest ecologist whose network research he frequently cites

Her studies mapped mycorrhizal connections linking trees in specific Douglas-fir forests and proposed that resources move through them, research that popular accounts, including Stamets's, have often generalized well beyond the forest types she actually studied.

A voice · 3 of 3
Justine Karst · Mycorrhizal ecologist who reviewed the network evidence

Co-authoring a 2023 review in Nature Ecology & Evolution, she found that widespread claims about forest-wide fungal networks rested on evidence from only a couple of forest types, and that several popular claims about them outran what the studies show.

A line to leave them with
The threads underground are real. What they're doing down there is still being mapped.
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