If a tree falls in the woods and nobody's around to hear it...does it make a noise??

Question

Does it?

silverandwhateveryournameis..... no need to be a jackass yourself, its just a bit of fun...

Answer 1

Actually, no it doesn't. The sound you hear is actually vibrations in your ear that your brain converts to noise. So if there are no living creatures with ears and brains around to 'hear' it, it does not make a noise...just some air vibrations going all over the place.

Answer 2

The answer hinges on one's definition of or concept of reality.

If you have an OBJECTIVE view of reality, that means for you, things exist independent of their being perceived to exist, in which case the falling tree does make a noise. Such a person would argue that given the mass of the tree and velocity of the fall, the force with which surrounding trees and branches and eventually the ground are struck would result in a vibration which lies within the audible range of a human.

If you have a SUBJECTIVE view of reality, that means for you, things exist only to the extent that and simply by virtue of their being perceived, in which case the falling tree does not make a noise. Such a person would argue that since we only know of the world by virtue of our perception(s), our perception(s) are in fact all we actually know. Since the perception is lacking (there's nobody in in the forest), no noise is made.

Answer 3

Always a fun trick question, and not quite as silly as some suggest. Actually, it depends on which definition of "sound" we use --

1 a : a particular auditory impression : TONE
b : the sensation perceived by the sense of hearing
c : mechanical radiant energy that is transmitted by longitudinal pressure waves in a material medium (as air) and is the objective cause of hearing

http://www.webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

So if you're asking about the vibrations which are the "objective cause of hearing" the answer would be, "Yes, it does MAKE a sound [=cause such vibrations] ". (objective sense)

But if you are using the ORIGINAL sense of "sound", as that which is actually HEARD by someone, then No, there is no sound made. (subjective sense). Note that this is the more ordinary way of using the word. If we say "he was so good, he didn't make a sound!" we're not really thinking about whether there were any sound-VIBRATIONS (that a machine or perhaps some creature with very acute sense of hearing could detect), but about whether he did did someting that affected us... that we HEARD.

I do think the role of the hearer, who takes in and inteprets the sound-waves, is important in all this. Sound is not JUST "sound waves" (the cause)

If we think of OTHER human senses the point might be clearer. Is it meaningful to talk about the "taste" or "smell" of something if there is no one with a SENSE of taste or smell?

Or ask 'What KIND of sound does the falling tree make? or what kind of sound does the crow or nightingale make?' The terms we use for these (as for taste and smell) are NOT descriptions of the vibrations but of our EXPERIENCE of them -- loud, thunderous, shrill, harsh, piercing, muffled, high, sweet, mournful .... (It's true that we might be able to scientifically describe the features of the sound-waves that are connected to our experiences, but that is not exactly the same thing.)

Answer 4

If a tree falls in the woods, it doesn't make noise, it makes good firewood.

Answer 5

If the tree is a trained ninja it definitely doesn't make any noise.

Answer 6

I don't know, but if my kid falls in the forest, and no one's around to hear her, she doesn't bother making any noise.

Answer 7

Yeah it'll make a noise. Sound waves travel no matter what.

Answer 8

have you ever been beside a tree that falls and it does NOT make a noise. so id have to say it does but your just not there to hear it.

Answer 9

well yea it does make a noise just no one can hear it so of course

Answer 10

Same answer as the other 8,437 times people have asked this question here.