03. The Forest Unseen_David G. Haskell

I realized that all stories are partly wrapped in fiction - the fiction of simplifying assumptions, of cultural myopia, and of storytellers’ pride. I learned to revel in the stories but not to mistake them for the bright, ineffable nature of the world.

The world does not center on me or on my species. The causal center of the natural world is a place that humans had no part in making. Life transcends us. It directs our gaze outward.

Watching ourselves and watching the world are not in opposition; by observing the forest, I have come to see myself more clearly.

The interior quality of our minds is itself a great teacher of natural history. It is here that we learn that “nature” is not a separate place.

I have glimpsed how rich science is but simultaneously how limited in scope and in spirit. It is unfortunate that the practice of listening generally has no place in the formal training of scientists.