Tree or Forest?

[EmptyVessel]

There is a saying, "Can't tell the forest from the trees." Never mind that. Just what is the difference between the forest and the tree? Does one exist without the other? What light does this shed on the meaning of existence? Can the forest ever be a tree or the tree a forest? What are the implications of this?

 

[Jennywocky]

It's not complicated: A "tree" is (potentially) an element of the set called "forest."

The phrase in question just means that you need to step outside of all the distracting details of the individual trees and look at the collection (forest) as a big picture. When you're in the trees, you can get "lost" but when you're stepping outside the trees and looking at it as a forest, the broad shape and essence of the set is more clear -- just like you might not know where you are generally if you're on the planet somewhere but your location and framing is much more obvious when you're looking down from orbit.

(Yeah, maybe you were just Ne-flinging assorted questions around and didn't really have a goal in mind by asking this, but that's my "serious" answer.)

 

[JansenDowel]

This appears to be a quote about reductionism. I'm personally not a reductionist. What about you?

 

[Cognisant]

It's a quote about the shortcomings of subjective perception, on the ground all you can see is the trees, in the air you can only see one forest canopy, only by cross referencing the individual subjective perspectives can an objective understanding of the forest as a whole be obtained.

The forest ecology is neither one tree or many individual trees, it's many individual trees that together create the canopy and thus the ecology.

 

[mrrhq]

I will put it simply In Zen terms.
A tree is a tree, and a forest is a forest.
Your question has been answered.

In reality, they are two different definitions.

 

[OrLevitate]

I will put it simply In Zen terms.
A tree is a tree, and a forest is a forest.
Your question has been answered.

In reality, they are two different definitions.

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