by Georgia Stewart

Created on: November 27, 2009

In order to address the question of whether the tree of life is a real thing I'll first focus on the word 'real'. The reason is that 'real' is surely subjective. In other words something that is real to one person might not be regarded as actually existing to another. Yet the Oxford English Dictionary doesn't agree; it describes 'real' as 'actually existing or occurring'; not imagined or supposed; not artificial; genuine: real diamonds; mathematics (of a number or quantity) having no imaginary part.'

The problem with the dictionaries description is that there are an infinite number of real things that haven't yet been scientifically or mathematically proven; or because of their empirical and exact nature's science and mathematics cannot acknowledge that there are things that exist that they haven't yet proven. Therefore there cannot yet, or perhaps ever be a definite black and white criteria of what is real and what is not.

Hopes, dreams, fantasies, emotions, love and other abstract qualities that cause us to be human cannot be considered real in any mathematical or scientific sense and yet everyone experiences them so we know that they exist. They are the things that give us the power to live our lives, to be strong and to soldier on when our experiences are difficult.

Is a story to be considered real if it saves someone's life? It's real in the sense that it caused transformation in a person and in that someone exists that otherwise perhaps would not. The person is still a real living person because of the story. The Oxford English Dictionary would consider blood to be real but according to their definition ideas are not real. Yet ideas are as real to the thinker as their blood.

Is a rainbow real? It can be scientifically explained but the colors can't be considered real in the way that diamonds can because they can't be captured and examined under a microscope. Memories are subjective in that we don't always remember events exactly as they occurred. Does this make our memories false or unreal? The way we feel about our children is exceedingly real but it can't be quantified.

Is the tree of life a real thing? I can state with empirical certainty that every tree is a tree of life because it's alive and not only that, it gives life. It's been stated numerous times that trees are the lungs of our planet because they take in carbon dioxide and give out oxygen. We will become extinct without them; they're a necessary part of our survival.

The story of the tree

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