If a tree falls on a desserted island, does it make a sound??

Question

Please give supporting detail (not necessarily facts) as to why you think yes or no :) thank you!!

I didn't ask for smart remarks ppl! If you have a smart remark try giving it to someone else! Thank You!! :0)

Answer 1

You know, we hear from sound waves...they always happen when something occurs that causes noise, so yes it make a sound just nobody hears it.

Answer 2

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 3

The short answer is that it depends on your view of reality.

If you have an objective view of reality, that it actually exists "out there", then the answer is YES. You would probably argue something like a tree has a certain mass, which falls at a certain rate due to gravity. This imparts a certain force to the surrounding vegetation and the ground, which is dissipated in the form of energy. To the extent the sound energy produced lies within the audible range of a human being, a sound is made.

If you have a subjective view of reality, that all we really know of reality is our perception(s) of it, then the answer is NO. Since there is no perception (no one there to hear the tree), there is no reality (the tree doesn't make a sound).

Answer 4

If someone is around to perceive it.

Vibrations transmitted through an elastic solid or a liquid or gas, with frequencies in the approximate range of 20 to 20,000 hertz, capable of being detected by human organs of hearing.

Answer 5

This has been debated since I was in school some forty years ago. I say no it does not make a sound unless the vibration is picked up by an eardrum to perceive it.

Answer 6

Yes it will but only the inhabitants of the island will here it.

Answer 7

What type of dessert is it falling into?
Lemon meringue absorbs a lot of sound.

Answer 8

Yes. Just because no one is around to hear it, doe not mean it did not happen.

Answer 9

does a bear have flees?

Answer 10

yea duh. just cuz no1 was there doesnt mean it doesnt make sound