The blind men and the trees:Diverse perspectives on the species composition of Halifax's urban forest

摘要

The classic story of the blind men and the elephant is relevant to so many facets of modern life. The blind men were exposed to an elephant and asked to describe it. The chap who grabbed the trunk thought he had hold of a snake. The gent who handled an ear determined that it was a carpet. The fellow who encountered a tusk imagined a spear. A leg gave that guy the image of a tree trunk. The person who felt the belly had a wall in mind. Finally, the lad who found the tail thought of a rope. With incomplete information, the group was, in the end, unable to define the system encountered as an elephant.