It depends on your definition of sound. It can be that sound is the motion of molecules in the air interpreted by the ear (which would mean no sound) or just the motion of molecules in the air (which would mean sound). Either way, who cares?
Poll: Can someone tell me how this is unanswerable??
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If I wanted to bother, I'd record it for you. You can half-swing your fingers into your palm and make a clapping noise (for some reason, it only works with my dominant hand). It sounds like normal, though muffled, clapping.Dax317 said:
Actually without the ability to observe the tree falling, the falling of the tree is not a determined event, and therefore exists in a probability cloud of falling or not fallingness.
Thusly, the answer to 'does it make a sound' physics will tell you that there is a probability clould of air vibrations that may correspond to any number of different possible sounds that the tree can make.
Thusly, the answer to 'does it make a sound' physics will tell you that there is a probability clould of air vibrations that may correspond to any number of different possible sounds that the tree can make.
It's not a proverb, it's a Koan: A question built to have no answer, where the purpose is to get you to accept that there is no answer and that the question is ridiculous. There are hundreds of examples of these; also quite common is "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" The point is not to answer the question, but to accept that you cannot.
Of course, yes, and definatly not. It does make a noise, noise is in fact noise, and just because we can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It's more of a question nowadays of if you hear a tree fall, how can you be so sure it's a tree? We have that issue regarding particles responsible for gravity or even dark matter. We hear a tree falling, we just don't know how or why.
The question is no longer relevant. as for one hand clapping it sounds like *SMACK* right across your face.
The reason it hasn't been answered by anybody is simply that you can only make a supposition without proof. Proof in this case invalidates the question. That is why it is a paradox - a situation which defies logic.orangebandguy said:
One can demonstrate that the mechanics of a tree falling ought to cause disturbances in the air which would be considered sound if one were around to observe them. Unfortunately, any experiment conducted to verify the math leads you back to the initial problem. That's the genius of a perfect paradox - try as you might to resolve it, at the end of the day there is not a solution to the problem.
Perhaps if the question were restated it may become more clear exactly why there is no answer.
Can you prove something happened if testing is forbidden? Such a question can be attacked from a host of fields (primarily science and philosophy), and inevitably you'll find that the answer is no. Using physics for example, one can simulate what would probably happen were a tree to fall in a certain way but until it is tested all you have is a projection. There is no certainty beyond faith at play. While I, like most people, have a fair amount of faith that a tree falling in the woods would make a sound without observation, my logic is simply as follows. Any time I have seen a tree fall it has made a sound, therefore all trees that fall must make a sound.
The tree in the forest makes no sound because sound is the human perception of the vibrations in the air, or in another medium.
On a less serious note, I have always entertained the possibility that maybe the tree's molecular particles match up perfectly with the ground's in such a way that the tree falls through the ground to the center of the earth where it oscillates back and forth between the crusts through all eternity.
On a less serious note, I have always entertained the possibility that maybe the tree's molecular particles match up perfectly with the ground's in such a way that the tree falls through the ground to the center of the earth where it oscillates back and forth between the crusts through all eternity.
Actually, I can clap with one hand. It isn't difficult once you see it done.Dax317 said:
Well, Bishop Berkeley was a pretty crazy dude. How could you prove that the tree made a sound, if no one was around to perceive that sound any more than you could prove that your clothes turn invisible every time no one is looking. And I think the point is that we take a leap of faith to determine that yes, the tree probably made a sound. Not proper reasoning, but a leap of faith. It just makes life easier that way. Cause and effect. David Hume. Look it up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume#Causation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume#Causation
