Who knows what tree is?

How do you experience a tree?

Assuming you give the tree some of your attention at all and you can look away from your smartphone for a while and get away from your thoughts. Than you see the tree, instead of a "tree-symbol". More precisely, you still do not see the tree, but the light that "reflects" with the tree. Maybe your mind thinks: "Yes, a tree, so what..? Can I continue with my smartphone now?". At first glance, trees are quite boring, quite static, are not as cuddly as a nice playful interactive cat. But when you dive in, "even a tree" becomes very complex.

Even a 2-year-old child knows what a tree is. Right?

Just "a tree"

Why this stupid question! Everyone knows what a tree is, even a 2-year-old child knows. A tree is just a tree, everyone knows that, right? But no one, no one, really no one, knows what a tree is. The scientist and tree specialist can tell you a lot of interesting details, a lot, but they don't know what a tree is either. "Tree" is a label for a group of agreements so that we can kind of clarify from person to person what we mean. (usually a trunk with branches, leaves, usually green with brown and usually taller than a human). But what is a tree really? Can you approach a complete description? Can you put "a tree" into words? You can describe the tree, specify the tree, this type, these dimensions, these color codes, the location where the tree is located, so that you and I can agree that we're talking about largely the same tree. But we can't "capture" the reality of the tree in symbols.

The scientist, gardener and tree specialist can tell you a lot,
but they don't know what a tree is either. - Nature Runs Wild

Have someone draw a tree

Just for fun, ask someone to draw a tree. Or do it yourself. You can also be quiet for a moment and imagine a picture of a tree in your mind (bring it to mind). What you will see is a stereotypical tree. The trunk, branches, green leaves. In your mind, or if you are a good draftsman (and make time) you can create an almost photo-realistic image. But that's a still image, a snapshot. You could say it's an illusion, even a picture. The tree is never still, it moves and grows, everything changes continuously. Just because you might not notice it doesn't mean it isn't. We make an abstraction, a simplification of the tree. It is a symbol that people all too easily take for reality. People think they know what a tree is, but if you ask them to draw one, they will forget a lot, just take the roots of the tree.

Meaningful question?

Why waste time on this pointless discussion? It is of course not so much about "the tree", but about the fact that nothing from reality can be captured in words, pictures or any media whatsoever. You can replace "the tree" with anything that is part of reality, it's exactly the same as for "the tree". If you let that sink in, you will be able to see everything with the open and fresh eyes of a child, supplemented with the optional toolbox of knowledge and experience that you have acquired as an adult. That brings enlightenment, even without religion.

If you let that sink in, you will be able to see everything with the open and fresh eyes of a child, supplemented with the optional toolbox of knowledge and experience that you have acquired as an adult. True knowledge consists in knowing that one knows nothing. - Socrates I assure you, unless you change and become like a child, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. - Jesus

The tree is everything

Where does the tree begin and where does it end? What is the tree actually made of? The tree grows from a seed, from the ground. The tree drinks water and absorbs sunlight and heat. In that way you can say that the tree is part of the sun (it "absorbes" part of the sun). The tree uses energy from the sun to grow. The sun transforms, as it were, into the growth of the tree. But only if it is in the ground, otherwise the tree will dry up. The tree also consists of water, coming from rivers that are supplemented by rainwater, coming from the clouds, made possible by the atmosphere. And something more lurid, you can also say that the tree indirectly eats people. When a corpse is buried, many animals will eat/break down the body and defecate again and make the soil nutritious again with all kinds of substances, of which the tree will undoubtedly absorb a part. So who really knows what a tree is made of? It is almost infinitely complex.

Are you a tree?

You are just like a tree... only a bit more complex (layered). You walk around, talk nonsense (just like I do :)) and are fed with a huge sea of ideas from others. You are just like the tree, part of the whole.

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