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RIP the Broccoli Tree

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Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#71

Post by clarkenheim »

cableshaft wrote: post #65

There's so many examples of this it's just so sad. Joshua Tree on U2 album cover destroyed: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2971368/U2-fan-pilgr... Kids knock down 16 million year old rock formation: https://military.id.me/news/idiots-ruin-18-million-year-old-... One man accidentally killed the oldest tree ever: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-one-man-accide... World's most isolated tree knocked…

A couple of those are not the same. When it happens by genuine accident it is not the same as vandalism.

Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#73

Post by triplesec »

2bitencryption wrote: post #5
ierolastic wrote: post #2

So many things about that are depressing, like, why would someone cut into a tree like that, and why would they decide that, if one of the trunks is gone, the whole thing needs to be decimated? Both are completely absurd.

since this entire topic seems philosophical, I'll go down this path -- someone is sitting at home, feeling worthless, like their life is pointless and they could disappear without anyone noticing. but there's this tree everyone likes. people notice this tree. because you see lots of pictures of it, people must visit it often. it's a confluence. if you were to, say, scratch your name into the bark, people would notice…

Indeed. You could also pick a right with North Korea (or the US) for just the same kinds of 'reasons'.

Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#74

Post by jplahn »

This is tangentially related to something I've been struggling with for the last year. I began getting into photography about a year and as an attempt to surround myself with inspiration, I followed many of the top landscape photographers on Instagram. While their images are beautiful and they tend to position their photographs from the perspective of "environmentalism", I can't help but feel like they've done as much damage as anything else.

Two examples come to mind. Last year, the USFS extended the lottery permit season in the Enchantments by six weeks due to increasing popularity, no doubt fueled by the incredible pictures of it littered across Instagram. Iceland is a top destination for photographers (for good reason) and I traveled there two months ago, no doubt influenced by the pictures I've seen. But it felt like the country was beginning to get ruined by me and my fellow tourists.

It feels like we're beginning to lose the hidden gems as more and more photographers rush to be the first. But even the non-hidden gems are beginning to get exposed more and more often. But I see the same spots being visited by all photographers and I don't see how they'll handle the continued influx of people:

  * Banff NP
  * Dolomites
  * Iceland
  * Lofoten
  * Greenland
It's great that people are interested in seeing the world, but I'd say the set of people that love photographing amazing locations and preserving them is much smaller than the set of people that only care about the former. That said, I'm probably more of a contributor to this than I'd care to admit.

Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#75

Post by smnrchrds »

mostafah wrote: post #30
ierolastic wrote: post #2

So many things about that are depressing, like, why would someone cut into a tree like that, and why would they decide that, if one of the trunks is gone, the whole thing needs to be decimated? Both are completely absurd.

There is an Arabic story about Hatim al-Tai’s brother. Hatim al-Tai was a great man, maybe the most generous person that has ever lived. He was a legend even when he was alive. One day people saw his brother peeing in the holy Well of Zamzam. This is the most sacred water in Islam. They asked him why he was doing such a thing. “My brother is famous and will be remembered forever in the history,” he said. “I can never…

> This is the most sacred water in Islam.

It was also sacred in the religions practiced in the region before Islam, which is important because Hatim died before the birth of Islam.

Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#76

Post by mustacheemperor »

ArchReaper wrote: post #22

Why is this on Hacker News?

Why do people insist on using this line to criticize the relevance of submissions to the community? You're presumably arguing submissions like this degrade the quality of discussion, but won't submit any reason it isn't relevant to the board. If all you're looking to do is shit in the punchbowl there's other boards for that, and if you think it's completely and blatantly obvious the submission is unsuitable there's a "flag" button available to call a discussion to the attention of the moderators.

My 2 cents, I believe it belongs here because the question of whether social media is a net benefit to society is frequently debated here, and this article uses the tree as an example to argue that it is a net negative. There's some interesting discussion in this thread about attention-seeking vandalism in the context of the internet.

Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#77

Post by KGIII »

schiffern wrote: post #4

Note that it's a willow tree, so the vandal and workers may have "just" unintentionally coppiced it. Far from killing the tree, some of the oldest trees in the world are coppiced. Coppicing is supposed to happen in winter, but it's possible this tree could survive. Looking at the "before" picture, the tree might itself be a spray formed when an older tree was cut. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing

I am not sure that it is unintentional. The observers may just have not asked what was going on. The reason I'm unsure of intent is the height of the stumps. That's rather abnormal as trees are usually cut much closer to the ground.

Also, the tree could probably have been saved. It didn't look like a cut that would have destroyed the entire tree. A good arborist could have removed that without overly damaging the rest of the tree.

The stumps are all left at unusual angles. Those aren't the result of typical notching and felling techniques. Those were cut intentionally. My guess is they were notched above that and then cut down to that height.

It may be intentional coppicing?

Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#78

Post by totally »

If you're bummed about Broccoli Tree, you might want to make some quality time to spend with your favorite (extant) tree.

Nothing lasts forever, folks. It's all going to be over before you know it.

Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#79

Post by 13of40 »

schiffern wrote: post #4

Note that it's a willow tree, so the vandal and workers may have "just" unintentionally coppiced it. Far from killing the tree, some of the oldest trees in the world are coppiced. Coppicing is supposed to happen in winter, but it's possible this tree could survive. Looking at the "before" picture, the tree might itself be a spray formed when an older tree was cut. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing

Can confirm. A couple of years ago the ornamental plum in my front yard died and I cut it off near the base. Almost immediately about a hundred new trunks sprouted from the stump and roots, and it was what I considered a handsome shrubbery for a year or so before my wife made me coppice the whole thing out of the ground with axe and pickup truck.
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