Poll: If a Tree falls in a forest...

[Arcticflame]

Oh lawd, I'm the only one so far that said no...

Philosophy professor went on about why there is no sound for about half an hour. He had a point, somewhere, even though I intuitively thought there would be sound.

Sounds is something that only exists when it is perceived by an organism, and each organism experiences it in a different way. 'Sound' might be just some energy moving around, but 'sound' has arbitrarily defined by humans, for humans, thus if it's not perceived, it cannot exist.

Something like that. I nearly fell asleep anyway.

That sounds more like noise rather than sound.

Sound can affect things around it, if a tree falls, it's sound wave could affect something nearby in a small way, through pressure caused by the sound. This influence could affect someone in the future.

Now to say that sound never happened, would be to say nothing is affected unless somone is there to witness it happening.

So there is no magnetism in the earth. And the earth's core never moves.

But of course, if an unmanned plane were to break the sound barrier, the shockwaves would still occur.

 

[T3h Camp3r T3rr0r1st]

I've gotten into arguements about this question, I've checked it on the net lods of times, and even the best scholars fight about the answer.

What does the Escapist Community think?

If a Tree Falls in the forest, and noone is around to hear it fall, does it make a sound?

so long as it is on Earth then is will make a sound

(providing there isn't a mini-vacuum around it)

 

[IamQ]

Of course it makes a sound. Just because you don't happend to be there doesn't mean it doesn't make any noise.

 

[October Country]

Yes, because of the laws of physics and all that.

Although I know this isn't about physics, it's about relativism and subjectivism. On a theoretical level this is an interesting question as it asks whether or not we create the world through our perception and language, or we are merely placed in a world that exists as a seperate entity from us.

And of course it is interesting because it is impossible to answer with certainty...

 

[Quantana]

Yes it does. The real question is, can you clap with one hand?

I'm doing so right now! (Although the question becomes anal if you can only define 'clapping' as the action of moving your two hands together rapidly to make a noise. You can make a light clapping noise by slapping the fingers on one hand against the palm of the same hand.)

hihi he said anal.

 

[kaziard]

just a little thought, its obvious it makes a sound, but if one were to put a camera in a forest and it caught a tree falling would that satisfy you? no one is actually there were just using a little cheat

 

[irrelevantnugget]

Oh lawd, I'm the only one so far that said no...

Philosophy professor went on about why there is no sound for about half an hour. He had a point, somewhere, even though I intuitively thought there would be sound.

Sounds is something that only exists when it is perceived by an organism, and each organism experiences it in a different way. 'Sound' might be just some energy moving around, but 'sound' has arbitrarily defined by humans, for humans, thus if it's not perceived, it cannot exist.

Something like that. I nearly fell asleep anyway.

That sounds more like noise rather than sound.

Sound can affect things around it, if a tree falls, it's sound wave could affect something nearby in a small way, through pressure caused by the sound. This influence could affect someone in the future.

For the trees themselves, it is not 'sound'. It is, as you said, pressure caused by the energy waves that we define as sound (if we perceive it in the first place).

The butterfly effect however, I had not thought of, but it's the direct energy movement that will be classified as the actual sound of the tree's fall, and only that has to be perceived. If the energy somehow lets a leaf blow around and hits a tree next to which someone is standing, there will be a tiny 'sound' of the leaf hitting that tree, but it's not the actual energy from the lone tree anymore.

 

[rryyann]

If a girl gets raped in the middle of the forest, and no one's around to hear her scream, is it rape?

The answer to both of the questions is Yes.

 

[Arcticflame]

Oh lawd, I'm the only one so far that said no...

Philosophy professor went on about why there is no sound for about half an hour. He had a point, somewhere, even though I intuitively thought there would be sound.

Sounds is something that only exists when it is perceived by an organism, and each organism experiences it in a different way. 'Sound' might be just some energy moving around, but 'sound' has arbitrarily defined by humans, for humans, thus if it's not perceived, it cannot exist.

Something like that. I nearly fell asleep anyway.

That sounds more like noise rather than sound.

Sound can affect things around it, if a tree falls, it's sound wave could affect something nearby in a small way, through pressure caused by the sound. This influence could affect someone in the future.

For the trees themselves, it is not 'sound'. It is, as you said, pressure caused by the energy waves that we define as sound (if we perceive it in the first place).

The butterfly effect however, I had not thought of, but it's the direct energy movement that will be classified as the actual sound of the tree's fall, and only that has to be perceived. If the energy somehow lets a leaf blow around and hits a tree next to which someone is standing, there will be a tiny 'sound' of the leaf hitting that tree, but it's not the actual energy from the lone tree anymore.

But sound = vibrations. In my opinion sound is any of the vibrations of the air, it isn't the act of comprehending.
In the end it all comes down to what definition you use, so effectively there are two separate arguments going on here, and hence it isn't even a philosophical discussion, but one of semantics.

 

[Private Custard]

Reminds me of another question I once heard.

If a man speaks and there's no woman around to hear him.........is he still wrong?!

 

[7moreDead_v1legacy]

If you've ever heard a tree fall on its own accord you would know it makes one hell of a noise...Unless of course it gets caught up on another tree before it fully goes, but even so it makes a noise...
(Tree surgeon or at least used to be).

Sound of bark breaking, crack of the fibres giving way, the whoosh of the leaves as it plummets, the thud as it hits the ground and the resulting shock wave of air rushing outwards moving the other trees and foliage on the ground...I do love felling trees

 

[megalomania]

Got to side with the no folks!

Its not a sound until somebody hears it! At that point it is just molecules vibrating. But, say the yesmen, what if there's a dog there to hear it? Well we can't hear a dog whistle so people would say that does not make any sound. So neither the dog whistle nor the tree falling are a sound, because neither are perceived by humans.

Go angry mob...

 

[cicaba]

If defenition:

the subjective sensation of hearing something; "he strained to hear the faint sounds"

then the answer is

no

if your defenition is a soundwave, then the question is does the falling tree cause vibrations

 

[irrelevantnugget]

But sound = vibrations. In my opinion sound is any of the vibrations of the air, it isn't the act of comprehending.
In the end it all comes down to what definition you use, so effectively there are two separate arguments going on here, and hence it isn't even a philosophical discussion, but one of semantics.

This is exactly what I'm saying. They're vibrations in the air that are being caught by our ears. If it's not being caught, it's just vibrations in the air, but not sound, simply because it is not heard. Sound does not exist without our own existence, when we defined it as such.

It is somewhat a philosophical discussion, but I'm indeed using semantic arguments. Because they can't be proven wrong.

 

[renosun12]

Sound is something we can hear, without our ears we would not be able to hear anything. sound would not excist without ears . we wouldent know what it is. with that note i say no

 

[timmytom1]

Obviously it makes a sound. There is no spiritual, religious, wishy washy arguement that can combat the fact that it makes a sound

/thread seriously this is POINTLESS!!!!

 

[acer840]

can we ask what made this tree fall in the forest?

 

[redsteven]

BTW, the egg obviously came first, not the chicken.