There are two universal questions every school kid hears, then spends the rest of their lives grappling with. I think I might have an explanation for one of them.

The first question: "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"

Well…let’s skip that one for now.

But the one I've been thinking about recently: “If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

Ah!

The tree/forest question speaks to the dual nature of the universe—positive and negative forces combined. The observable and the observed. The implication is that one is not, if it does not have the other. Quantum physics is based on this duality—let’s call it the “binary.”

If I do a good deed and nobody notices, is it still a good deed?

I have been attending a fair number of galas and meetings in the past few weeks, where recognition of our friends’ and neighbors’ contributions to their communities are a large part of the program. Without these valuable contributions, many efforts would not be successful and many needs might not be met. Someone gets an award. It’s usually someone we all know, and often have come to fete. Everybody has a good time, the food and wine taste great, and the good work of our friends gets the recognition it deserves.

This is the tree falling in the forest. A great sound is made.

There are thousands of human beings, animals, causes, ideas tended thoughtfully, lovingly, and yes, anonymously, by folks we never get to hear about. These are the doers of good deeds, who just do what they believe is their job. These are the unnoticed good deeds which are the fibers that make up the strings that bind us all. Yet their actions often go unheard, just like the falling of that solitary tree in the forest.

What is the binary here? Who hears the sound of the tree falling, thus fulfilling the cosmic duality?

If the binary does not bind to its supporting poles, it cannot be sustained. You, the good deed-doer, must make your sound, your voice, your song, to be heard by the rest of us. Every tree that falls in the forest does indeed makes a sound. The tree does its job. We must do ours, and listen. We are all the ears that fulfill the sound’s purpose by hearing it.

So I would like to send out the word, the sound, the call, to all of those trees in the forest which have fallen and made their sound. We have listened, we hear. The sound starts with you, the tree—not with us, the listener. Let me be clear about that.

If a tree in the forest falls, and you don’t know if anyone heard, you have still made your sound. You need to keep making your sound. It is up to the rest of us to listen, and to amplify.

If a Tree Falls