"If a tree falls over in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make any sound?"
This age old scientific/philosophical question has affronted minds for generations. You see, before the invention of recording devices, there was no scientific way to answer this question. It became a question of philosophy.
So I wondered how the literary philosopher G.K. Chesterton might answer. In thinking forward, it might appear like this: (My apologies to this great man, as I am so far stuck in thinking backwards.)
One might think that this tree's fall would produce no sound, and one could be assured in thinking so, because he does not hear it. But for one to think that all of nature performs its act for our benefit alone is quite presumptuous. Nature was created before man, and does not need man to exist. The fact is so well recognized, in fact, that Mr. Wells and many other novelists have all but said that nature is best without man. No, this tree did not wait for human ears to confirm its glorious downfall.
It fell, with a crack more sharp and a crash more thunderous than any human has ever heard, precisely because it had no reason.
This age old scientific/philosophical question has affronted minds for generations. You see, before the invention of recording devices, there was no scientific way to answer this question. It became a question of philosophy.
So I wondered how the literary philosopher G.K. Chesterton might answer. In thinking forward, it might appear like this: (My apologies to this great man, as I am so far stuck in thinking backwards.)
One might think that this tree's fall would produce no sound, and one could be assured in thinking so, because he does not hear it. But for one to think that all of nature performs its act for our benefit alone is quite presumptuous. Nature was created before man, and does not need man to exist. The fact is so well recognized, in fact, that Mr. Wells and many other novelists have all but said that nature is best without man. No, this tree did not wait for human ears to confirm its glorious downfall.
It fell, with a crack more sharp and a crash more thunderous than any human has ever heard, precisely because it had no reason.
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