"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Hamlet, Act I, Scene V
One of the genuine pleasures of living in Scotland is the landscape which makes it world renowned. The dense coniferous and deciduous trees which cover the land hide many a floral and faunal beauty. However, when one looks upon these vast forests, the cliché of 'can't see the wood for the trees' becomes very apparent. Despite this, the overworked phrase above ironically represents the truth of the people who use it.
Fore you see there are those who see both wood and trees, yet fail the grasp the reality of this overgrown metaphor. As they stare upon the scale which the forest encapsulates, they just see a body of matter, a potential obstacle. This natural barrier is as intimidating as the barricade which infests their minds. The roots of their ignorance grow deep as they stretch towards heights which they could never truly appreciate. They compete with their neighbours to bask in a warmth which will just leave them cold at the core. They see the bark, a shield against a reality and deeper reasoning beyond their sphere or willingness to entertain. For those who take this floral display at face value they deny themselves a greater consciousness. They are content in the understanding that a tree falling in a forest with no one to hear it will make a clear Simpson-esque crashing sound, rather than engage with this thinking at a deeper level.
There are those, fortunately, who occupy a juxtaposition from those above. As they stare at the forest before them, they do not formulate black-and-white conclusions. They peer past the blatantly obvious reality before them and realise a true magnificence. For what they see it a complex and perfectly balanced chaos, created by chance and nurtured by luck, for no other reason to exist other than that it does. The light which permeated is the light of greater knowledge. This higher sentience lies in the experience of those who glory in that which is uncontrollable, yet completely captivating. The light for which the trees reach for is relative to the luminous draw of reasoned thinking. Through this the warmth of lustrous wisdom is attained. Each leaf that falls or rustle of a branch percolates an entropic effect on all which the universe contains. The existence of a tree in an exact location at a designated time may have as far reaching effects as the collapse of a star or the formation of a galaxy. Such concepts are only appreciated by those who see the wood and the trees for what they really are.
Roughly 1/3 of the Earth's dry land is covered in forest/ woodland, when 34% of the planet's surface is dry land. Within this area there is an estimated 90% of the terrestrial biodiversity. To those initially described above this is just a collection of facts and figures for a pub quiz. However those who fall within the latter group, who see not just the physical; but also a vast expanse of philosophical reasoning before their eyes and minds. Do not just see the wood, the trees, or both; but rather see the improbability of its very existence and the possibility that it may never have existed in the initial circumstances. To open one's mind is to bring it into the warmth of reason and away from the darkness where one roots dare to tread.
