真菌学是个天坑。如果把分类,演化,形态和繁殖等等展开细说,"演义"的篇幅根本不够。这里只能稍微提一下:真菌界和动物界同属真核生物六大分支中的后鞭毛生物(Opisthokonts,参见第一百七十四回 Single Cell),它们发展出和动物完全不同的生存模式。组成菌丝的每个细胞几乎一模一样,没有组织和器官的分化,依然可以完成各种复杂的生命活动。真菌没有骨骼和肌肉,却能够支撑和运动;没有神经和大脑,却可以交流信息;没有胃肠,却可以消化分解几乎一切有机产品;没有腺体,却可以制造自然界最复杂的物质:从最浓郁的醇香,到最刺鼻的恶臭,从最鲜美的珍味,到最猛烈的剧毒,从最高效的抗菌素,到最神秘的迷幻剂。
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My story begins in Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo, a world away from the fast-paced, glamorous life now I live. Circumstances were so adverse that children like me were experiencing malnutrition and had to sell water on the streets to support ourselves and our families — but often it wasn't enough. At one time I was being homeless without a bed, food or clean water.
Then I made a vow to myself: "The way things are right now, I need to go play basketball abroad. Until there is nothing else I can do, I will never stop trying."
My father was a big inspiration because he was a basketball player, too. He was hard on me and pushed me a little bit, but he didn't pressure me to play, as basketball runs in our family's veins.
Basketball is not just a sport, but also an escape when I experienced a series of losses in my life. First my mother passed away, when I was eight years old. Soon after, the bloody Second Congo War broke out. The family fled the city for most of the war, but on our return to Brazzaville, my father was arrested for straying on the wrong side of the battlefield. During his year-long imprisonment, I at first lived with uncles, but then was turned out to live on the street. Eventually, my grandmother took me in.
And I kept training. If I didn't wake up to go run, I wouldn't be here right now. During those runs, while everyone else was sleeping, I knew I had to do something different from the rest to have a different future. People would make fun of me and tell me it was worthless. But in my mind, I always had a vision and a goal.
Ignoring the taunts of peers, I woke at 4 a.m. every day to go for runs, despite the hunger, the lack of electricity and, sometimes, a lack of shoes. These runs defined me. Every morning, listening to my feet pounding the pavement, I knew that with every step, I was building and shaping someone better.
At the young age of 17, I made the move to Spain to play in the second division league, first with L'Hospitalet, then with DKV Joventut. In 2007, I was invited to participate in the Adidas Nations camp; this would be my big break and put me on the rasadar of the NBA scouts.
On June 26, 2008, I was selected as the Oklahoma Thunder's 24th pick in that year's NBA draft, becoming the first player from the Republic of Congo to be selected in the draft. That was when I stepped into a totally different world, began to live in my lifetime dream.
Now I'm fighting in playoffs with Raptors as the top 1 team in Eastern Conference. We have won several wonderful games. Hope we can keep it for long and go as far as possible.
I may have genetic advantages as both my mother and my father played for national basketball teams. But I believe most of you didn't have to go through the things I went through as a kid. I just want to say that never sit back and allow life to happen, you always have to be the author of your own success, embracing opportunities that arise from your hard work.
[1] Chris Weller on Business Insider (2017). Psychologists studied 5,000 genius kids for 45 years.
[2] Life Paths and Accomplishments of Mathematically Precocious Males and Females Four Decades Later David Lubinski, Camilla P. Benbow, Harrison J. Kell 2014
[3] Creativity and Technical Innovation Spatial Ability's Unique Role. Harrison J. Kell, David Lubinski, Camilla P. Benbow, 2013
[4] When less is more: Effects of grade skipping on adult STEM productivity among mathematically precocious adolescents. Park, Gregory,Lubinski, David,Benbow, Camilla P. Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 105(1), Feb 2013, 176-198
[5] Tom Clynes on Nature (2016). How to raise a genius: lessons from a 45-year study of super-smart children.
[6] Madeline Fisher on WISC News (2007). Fifty years and counting: The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.
[7] Herd, Pamela, Deborah Carr, and Carol Roan. 2014. "Cohort Profile: Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS)." International Journal of Epidemiology 43:34-41