Is Eywa a fungal organism?

[Human No More]

Originally Posted by auroraglacialis

But that is not really true. Take a mycelium because this is the original topic. It transports nutrients and chemicals from one part to the other. That flow of elements can be fast, slow, be diverted to other parts of the mycelium, cease or change in chemical composition. That is data. A plant that releases pheromones to warn other plants about a bug infestation gives information. Distance, intensity of infestation, potentially also direction.

Within an organism, then yes. Is there any data encoded in oxygen an animal breathes and the resulting carbon dioxide? No. It has already been established there is no electrical (which would be a direct neurological analogue) network. I honestly think it would be great if Earth did have some kind of network like that, but the truth is there isn't one.

But how do we know that. The earths ecosystems are certainly more complex than humans, and we do not really know if there is an "understanding" happening beyond instinct. Animals also learn - they observe and act upon what they have learned. Is that instinct? It is learned behaviour after all. There are even cultures - birds from different places use different tools or techniques.

Yes - but i most cases, are still nonsentient. there is no data transfer between the organisms other than simple communication (sound, touch, pheromones).
Your example about not having numbers is completely beside the point -they are still sentient beings, as I said multiple times.

Movement in animals is just cells using their "hairs" to pull strings we call muscles. In animals these reactions are caused by nerves, in plants there are potential gradients and slower moving impulses that activate them. Of course a single plant will not look at you and react to you individually, but that was not the point here anyways because we are not talking about intelligent or thinking individual plants.

Well funghi for example interact with trees and other plants beyond their own mycelium.

Yes - biochemically.
The poit about a biochemical reaction is that there is no capcity to encode information within a molecule of a gas, or an amino acid. There is no carrier for your supposed data. Pheromones are an example of a biological system which is an actual form of communication, bu they are very complicatedand specific particles. Species do not transfer data to all others.
I know how a synapse works - it produces an action potential in the cell which causes an electrical impulse, this is a direct change as a result of these, which will reach another synapse or a motor neuron. synapses are specific. Chemical transfer between species is neither, and does not cause specific actions depending on the origin. It is completely non-discriminating - if an animal or plant can be kept in a controlled environment, it does not care where its oxygen/CO2 comes from, the origin of its food (other than basic composition and biological suitability) - it is interchangeable, and there is no data transfer.


Either way, let's get back onto on the actual topic and away from this contrived discussion on Earth, as this is about Pandora - fungi undoubtedly form a part of the network with their connection to plants - but that does not mean the network is based on them, especially not in terms of mycelium when it is directly shown to have a similar effect as electrical impulses in the nervous system. Fungi may well link areas or individual plants where they interact, but they are not the medium itself.