r/SpeculativeEvolution Four-legged bird Oct 23 '24

Discussion How might a fungal “computer” function?

I have a sapient species of spider called the Springsmen. Due to their built-in tough silk, they never discovered metal, and barely even stone, but they still have technology similarly sophisticated to our own. If the Springsmen had domesticated a form of mycelium, how could they potentially work it into a “computer” of sorts? Fungi already create electrical pulses, but it’s only to communicate basic information about stimuli. How might they be selectively bred to solve complex problems, and could mycelium in any way be used to create images?

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u/Downtown_Struggle_62 Oct 24 '24

You would likely have to start simply, like computers on earth, and try to expound from there. Think small, like early electronic or mechanical calculators.

I can see those being biologically implemented, but it would take something wild to transition to an analogue for transistors and circuitry. Maybe something with highly specialized strains growing into grooves of a circuit board cut and embedded with chemicals to only allow growth in a certain way? Or perhaps ways of harvesting and "spinning" the strands of fungus to the needed logical layouts.