Sure-Fire Ways to Be Brainless, From An Inspiring Slime

<p>What's it like to think like a slime mold? Join Lisa and American writer, scholar, and film critic Steven Shaviro for a wildly erudite and imaginative look at the nature of consciousness in Physarum polycephalum, otherwise known as "The Blob," a brainless amoeba that thinks, learns, and inspires so much more than science fiction.</p> <p>Want to follow up on our sources or watch any of the videos we mention? <a href='https://thisanimallife.com/'>Go to ThisAnimalLife.com </a>and <a href='https://thisanimallife.com/?page_id=392'>click on Show Notes</a>.  </p> <p>Barnett, Heather, “<a href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UxGrde1NDA'>What humans can learn from semi-intelligent slime</a>,” Jul 17, 2014.  A TED talk about slime mold.</p> <p><a href='https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11366150/'>The Blob: A Genius Without a Brain (TV Movie)</a>. Directed by Jacques Mitsch, 2019.</p> <p><a href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyzT5b0tNtk'>Can Slime Mould Solve Mazes?</a>, BBC Earth Lab, Dec 5, 2018. Reproduction of the Tokyo Metro study.</p> <p><a href='http://www.creepinggarden.com/the-film/'>The Creeping Garden Documentary.</a>Directed by Tim Grabham and Jasper Sharp, 2014. Click here for the <a href='https://vimeo.com/58295282'>trailer</a>.</p> <p>Dussutour, Audrey, “Le Blob,” <a href='https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16801269.Audrey_Dussutour'>Tout ce que vous avez toujours voulu savoir sur le blob sans jamais oser le demander</a>, Des Equateurs, April 27th 2017. </p> <p>Dussutour, Audrey, “<a href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUlwl9xQjIs'>Decision-making in Slime Molds,” </a>ACM Collective Intelligence 2020, June 2020. </p> <p>Eaglemann, David, <a href='https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51778153-livewired?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=BzBG9iw9xP&rank=1'>Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain</a>, Pantheon Books, 2020.</p> <p>Hollowman, Luke M.S., “<a href='https://medium.com/@lukehollomon/anesthesia-works-on-plants-too-and-we-dont-know-why-dc7ed8a89909'>Anesthesia Works on Plants Too,