The fungus found in nature is a simple, fast growing, adaptive, organism, composed of many interacting and supporting systems.

The program FUNGUS may be thought of as a software-organism, consisting of software "building blocks" that adapt and interact at low levels to "self organize",  into more complex structures and procedures that support the needs of the user.

In the Darwinian world, all organisms must adapt to changing environments in order to be successful. The success of man has been due, to our ability to invision and then create the tools necessary to extend our biological and environmental limitations.

When personal computers first emerged, users had to write their own programs. Every user was a programmer. Cutting-edge magazines on programming and artificial intelligence were available at the local grocery store. We had the tools and the freedom to program anything we could imagine. The more we explored, the more we discovered and progressed.

Computers are now running 100 times faster with 10,000 times the storage capacity. Our programs and programming languages have become more specialized and complex. We now spend more time looking at glitzy screens then we ever did magazines.

But is this progress?

Throughout history, every tool that man has developed, has allowed him to produce more, while doing less. The present "productivity" software available in the marketplace today is unable to adapt to individual needs, in any way that would allow the user to automate, to "do more while doing less".  

We are forced to work, pushing a mouse, much like an ox pushing a wheel, doing the same mundane computer tasks, day after day.

Several studies have shown that businesses have spent billions on computer tools with no resulting increase in office productivity. These studies suggest that overall, computers may have been a waste of time, money and effort.

A relative handfull of programmers and companies now dictate what tools we will use. Their complex operating systems and "one size fits all" marketing philosophy, requires that we either "wear it" or "go naked".

Contrast this with the real potential, of a virtual army of programmers inventing new ideas; with each individual effort contributing to the total "tool- soup".

To make this happen, we need to understand that behind all the pretty screens and hype, the real work is still just 1s and 0s, words and numbers. The cognitive gap between what we would like a computer to do, and how to get it, has grown too wide. We need to simplify and make accessible. We need to put the mouse down and get back to basics.

Fungus gets us started.