If a Tree Falls in the Forest and No One is Around to Hear It, Does It Make A Sound?

Turtlepower · 02-09-2009, 06:44 PM

Discuss!!!

HawkeyeFan · 02-09-2009, 06:45 PM

Yeah.. It has too.

BigDawg819 · 02-09-2009, 06:53 PM

Sound exists even when "no one" hears it. /discussion

02-09-2009, 06:54 PM

No, it does not.

Like sight, "sound" as we know it need human ears to process it. It's like, if an apple is sitting in a forest and no one sees it, is it still red? No, it's grey.

The sound waves exist. The sound does not.

yo123 · 02-09-2009, 06:56 PM

Yes. This question is a pet peeve of mine.

Philliez01 · 02-09-2009, 07:07 PM

It's an enigma wrapped in a riddle.....

Go_Eagles77 · 02-09-2009, 07:10 PM

Do animals count?

RAVENS/WIZARDS/ORIOLES · 02-09-2009, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Go_Eagles77

Do animals count?

Yea animals would hear it

the_legend_killer · 02-09-2009, 07:14 PM

Sound is a project of the liberal media.

Xonraider · 02-09-2009, 07:15 PM

Yeah it does.

princefielder28 · 02-09-2009, 07:17 PM

A sound is made, but the tree, itself, does not make a sound

Brent · 02-09-2009, 07:19 PM

You can answer this both ways:

1) Yes, sound is nothing more than vibration and the tree falling creates vibrations which travel through any medium and thus creates sound.

2) No, it does not make a sound because, if it's not perceived by me does it really exist? What I sense is nothing more than what my brain interprets. So, if I cannot experience it, is it real?

It depends on your views. I say yes but the argument for no can be made.

bearsfan_51 · 02-09-2009, 07:20 PM

Sound is simply a constructed temporality, epistemologically based in the human need to rationalize an irrational world. Thus, no. And yes.

SFbear · 02-09-2009, 07:57 PM

A better question would be "Does a tree even exist if no one is around to perceive it?"

George Berkeley "Immaterialism FTW!!"

Rene Descartes "Oh shut up you noob!"

D-Unit · 02-09-2009, 08:00 PM

What if we all see different colors?

How would we know? We grew up learning that it's a particular name, but what if it's actually a completely different color?

iowatreat54 · 02-09-2009, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whomecouldntbe

No, it does not.

Like sight, "sound" as we know it need human ears to process it. It's like, if an apple is sitting in a forest and no one sees it, is it still red? No, it's grey.

The sound waves exist. The sound does not.

Why would it be grey? Wouldn't it be black, the absence of color, in order for your theory to be sound? Grey is still a color.

And yes, it does make a sound. Ears do not need to process it in order for it to be sound, that just means we hear it. Sound waves can still be emitted and traced, even if they cannot be heard.

ShutDwn · 02-09-2009, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whomecouldntbe

No, it does not.

Like sight, "sound" as we know it need human ears to process it. It's like, if an apple is sitting in a forest and no one sees it, is it still red? No, it's grey.

The sound waves exist. The sound does not.

This is right. The perception of sound is a happening inside the brain, nowhere outside. If there is NO ONE (like the problem says) to hear it, or process the vibrations, it makes no sound, just sound waves that reach no brains to process into sound.

It screws with your mind, as with the whole thing about color being the same way.

bearsfan_51 · 02-09-2009, 08:29 PM

Descartes sucks.

02-09-2009, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iowatreat54

Why would it be grey? Wouldn't it be black, the absence of color, in order for your theory to be sound? Grey is still a color.

And yes, it does make a sound. Ears do not need to process it in order for it to be sound, that just means we hear it. Sound waves can still be emitted and traced, even if they cannot be heard.

This isn't a theory, it's the truth. Take psychology.

Colour doesn't exist, our brains invent it. The world actually looks somewhat like a black and white movie, just our eyes interpret light waves as colours. The sound, as we know it, does not exist. There is vibration, but there is no sound. Sound can only exist when there is a working set of ears attached to a working brain.

TitleTown088 · 02-09-2009, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearsfan_51

Descartes sucks.

I usually find most mechanist Philosophers to suck. Vortices my ass Rene

02-09-2009, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bearsfan_51

Descartes sucks.

At least I know I am. Although I am not a huge fan of his reductionism. I concede that the world around me exists, although I am fully aware that it does not exist in the way I perceive it.

iowatreat54 · 02-09-2009, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whomecouldntbe

This isn't a theory, it's the truth. Take psychology.

Colour doesn't exist, our brains invent it. The world actually looks somewhat like a black and white movie, just our eyes interpret light waves as colours. The sound, as we know it, does not exist. There is vibration, but there is no sound. Sound can only exist when there is a working set of ears attached to a working brain.

Yea, the part about sound I misinterpreted. However, the part about color I still maintain. If no one sees the color, then wouldn't the object be black, which is the absence of color? If it is gray, there is still color present.

JeffSamardzijaIRISH · 02-09-2009, 08:39 PM

Cogito ergo sum is a bunch of crap. What if the ability to think means one is actually not alive, but dead?

giantsfan · 02-09-2009, 08:40 PM

someone has a better acid hookup than me.

Shane P. Hallam · 02-09-2009, 08:41 PM

Sound waves=sound in my book.