If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? 

How about who cares? 

From a physics perspective yes, right? I am not huge into western philosophy. I walked out of my existentialism class halfway. But I feel that there is a huge amount of arrogance and self importance that comes with the first question. Because someone didn’t hear it, because someone wasn’t there, then you question its ability to make noise? What about the insects, animals, the ground that shook, the roots that stayed behind? Is their experience not valid? Let’s imagine that there was nothing there except the fallen tree. No other tree, bug, animal, or fungi close-by. Not even a fun-guy. But the ground still shook. Is that not enough? 

That tree once stood tall. It fell and it continued to serve the ecosystem. And you wonder about the sound you did not hear? It obviously made a sound. If a tree stood tall and served a blind passerby by offering it shade and shelter from the rain, was it ever there? 

This was a thought experiment that became popular in the late 19th century and early 20th. It stemmed from discussions in differences in perception and reality. Attributed to George Berkeley who was known to have bought and sold slaves. He was also a theorist of slavery and racial discrimination.

But it’s interesting right? Why do we think of these things still? Is it useful? Maybe. Can be. But it stems from someone who was deeply problematic. I wonder then why someone with that past would question the sound of a being that was totally alone… 

I have a preference to relate to stories of the past. Stories from my religion and the souls who often found themselves so alone. It has always been a comfort. I think as Muslims we sometimes gloss over the emotion that exists in our deen. This quick reminder to be patient recommended with little else. The blind attribution of weakness and weak faith when one is sad and alone. But what about the whale and the darkness upon darkness and the experience of Prophet Yunus? The imprisonment and the well of Prophet Yusuf? It’s strange I think to intellectualize emotion. To question its validity. If someone was saddened and you were not there to feel it, was the sadness true? 

I say this knowing that I often intellectualize how I feel. I know why I feel a certain way. But that knowledge does little to serve me. I wait until I forget or when enough time has passed for it to go away. I used to take pride in knowing. Pride in being so self aware. 

If no one was there to know you and all you have felt and known, was it important? Of course. But as humans we crave so deeply to be known. Accepted. Validated. We look for it in many places. In people, school’s of thought, our careers, religion. 

Our attachment with social media further skews this, in my opinion. Who wants to feel bad, incorrect, selfish? And if someone was okay with feeling that way, then the world at large certainly is not. So we see people villainize or discredit the suffering of people. Because it’s more convenient, practical, and does not force them to question their beliefs. How many people suffer and post online to beg our attention and empathy in places like Palestine, Sudan, Tigray, Congo? Well we can’t do anything to help really… There are larger powers at play… Compassion exhaustion can happen… Is it even enough to simply acknowledge? 

This technology, education and globalization of the world kinda makes the first question seem pointless. I don’t hear the suffering if my phone is turned off or I have disconnected from social media. But we are aware that the suffering still exists. So what then?

This is just a rambling. A sound of the fallen tree was made despite the missing audience. I feel that Allah hears me. That all is heard by Him and accounted for. So for me, that is enough. 

But what is enough for you?