Jaidan Brass - Ecology of Eden Chapter 5: The Human Mushroom (12/04)

   For my presentation, I talked about chapters 5 and 6 of Ecology of Eden. Chapter 5 was titled "The Human Mushroom." It talked about how humans are like mushrooms because we, too, are saprophytes that get energy from dead organisms. In the case of this chapter, Eisenberg means how we use fossil fuels for energy. I found this to be such an interesting but legitimate analogy to think about. It goes on to talk about how we are bringing back up old organisms to use to bolster our economy. However, there are consequences to using fossil fuels. Some of them are pretty clear, like pollution or habitat destruction to reach the nonrenewable resources. Eisenberg states that the dangers of obtaining a new form of energy have always come with a risk, which he gives accessing Oxygen as one of them. That does give hope that we will somehow be able to adapt to a more sustainable way of life in the future--even if it still contains the usage of fossil fuels. The last section made a connection between the earlier chapters with the mention of alliances. He also states that if fossil fuels resemble the wheat of the second wave, that machines are domesticated animals. Machines, like animals, are used to make work easier for humans. Eisenberg's comparison between fossil fuels and machines to wheat and animals seems like a way to reconnect us to ecology. Even with all the technology that seems to separate us from the environment, they are actually a part of our ecosystem instead