Prof. Dr. Dirk Brockmann:
Thinking Like a Fungus – How to Better Understand Complex Systems

Professor Dirk Brockmann, Director of the Center Synergy of Systems at TU Dresden, takes the evolutionary success of fungi as the starting point for a conceptual approach. To him, “thinking like a fungus” means nothing less than communicating, building networks, and exploring despite blindness – venturing into the unknown and forging new collaborations. His talk delves into complex movements and systems, which he illustrates in an engaging and accessible way with concrete examples, such as Prochlorococcus, a cyanobacterium living in the Amazon that remains little known, despite producing 30–40% of the Earth’s oxygen. Brockmann invites us to rethink complexity: what can be disregarded within a complex system while still preserving its essence, allowing us to understand it and develop an intuitive grasp? And what rules can be established to ensure a complex system functions effectively?