A symbiotic philosophy
Phycomycism
The religion I might have just created.
It began with a stubborn swimming-pool algae bloom, a podcast about the stoned ape theory, and the uncomfortable realization that pond scum has been around a hell of a lot longer than we have.
Pronounced: FYE-koh-MYE-siz-um 🍄
“We are not separate from nature. We are part of the system.”
Quick disclaimer:
This is mythology, philosophy, ecological musing, and a joke that got significantly out of hand. It is not presented as science.
The part that is less ridiculous
The basic idea
We are part of the system.
Nature is not a place we go. It is the thing we are currently happening inside of.
Separation creates imbalance.
The more we imagine ourselves as independent from the rest of life, the easier it becomes to treat everything else as a resource.
Connection matters.
Life works through relationships, dependencies, exchanges, cycles, and networks whether we acknowledge them or not.
Latest Writing
Phycomycism | The Pursuit of Better Problems
Phycomycism doesn’t promise a perfect world. It asks us to stop using the impossibility of utopia as an excuse for accepting unnecessary suffering, and instead work toward a world with better problems—less harm, more dignity, and tradeoffs actually worth having.
Read the essay