If a tree falls in a forest, and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
This riddle reminds me of Basho’s haiku, the gist of which is this: old pond + frog jump + sound of water. I walked by a pond in the Jefferson National Forest Sunday. Before I reached the pond, I could hear frogs jumping. They could hear me. We both made sounds. In the forest, trees had fallen. I crawled over one that was in my path. Branches scattered. The sound these trees made while falling was just an echo within my imagination.
When I was younger, I would argue that the tree did make a sound. I focused on that word “sound.” Then I learned the physics of sound. Sound waves become sound when they are processed. Oh! I thought. I am supposed to say “no.” Then I began to focus on that word “nobody.” Oh! I thought. Let us humans not be the center of the universe. Sound can happen without us. The forest is full of bodies, not all human. There will always be sound as long as there is some creature to process the sound waves.
Now I am inclined to focus on that word “make.” That word is, I think, at least today, the heart of the riddle. Can a tree render sound into existence? Perhaps. Or maybe the sound just happens, the way lilies neither toil nor spin, the way rain falls? Think about the old pond, the frog jumping in, the sound of water. Who hears it? I did. But I am not enough. "I" is not enough.
This riddle reminds me of Basho’s haiku, the gist of which is this: old pond + frog jump + sound of water. I walked by a pond in the Jefferson National Forest Sunday. Before I reached the pond, I could hear frogs jumping. They could hear me. We both made sounds. In the forest, trees had fallen. I crawled over one that was in my path. Branches scattered. The sound these trees made while falling was just an echo within my imagination.
When I was younger, I would argue that the tree did make a sound. I focused on that word “sound.” Then I learned the physics of sound. Sound waves become sound when they are processed. Oh! I thought. I am supposed to say “no.” Then I began to focus on that word “nobody.” Oh! I thought. Let us humans not be the center of the universe. Sound can happen without us. The forest is full of bodies, not all human. There will always be sound as long as there is some creature to process the sound waves.
Now I am inclined to focus on that word “make.” That word is, I think, at least today, the heart of the riddle. Can a tree render sound into existence? Perhaps. Or maybe the sound just happens, the way lilies neither toil nor spin, the way rain falls? Think about the old pond, the frog jumping in, the sound of water. Who hears it? I did. But I am not enough. "I" is not enough.
RSS Feed
