If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it...Does it still make a sound??

Answer 1

I believe this is a question about human egotistics. If a tree falls and no one is around, does it make a sound? Of course it does, but does it matter to us? It's really a question of the importance of things we have never experienced.

If there is a cure for AIDs but no one on Earth has discovered it, does it make a difference? No, not at all, not until we discover it. The cure is important, but it does nothing for us in it's undiscovered state.

Well I guess, right now, the cure per say is not important (because the cure in it's undiscovered state does nothing for us), but right now, the search for the cure is important... Likewise with the tree, if no one was around to hear what sound it made when it fell, it makes no difference to us.

Likewise, if there is an element in the universe, and we have yet to discover it, does it exist? To our knowledge, it does not exist, so the importance of it's existance is insignificant to us. Technically it exists, but to us, it does not.

Answer 2

The argument of 'no' is based on the idea that 'sound' is only a phenomenom that takes places within our ears/brain/nervous system. The argument is that it does not make a sound, because we are not there to convert the vibrations into sound.

But there is a paradox, because if one believes that there are still vibrations (but no sound) then one contradicts his/her theory that it takes place in the brain. If sound only takes place in the brain and does not exist outside of it, then so also seen, or known, vibriations should only take place if it is known or seen by human. If sound only exists as vibrations of the ears, then Everything, including things seen and known, should only exists as take place in the brain.

The idea of the tree producing vibrations takes place in the brain, just like sound. Therefore, one could argue (accodring to it does Not make a sound theory) that if a person does not know the idea of a vibration, then neither does the tree make a vibration. Likewise, if one does not have the memory or idea of a tree in his/her mind/brain, then neither does the tree exist: because it has to be Seen, Felt, Smelt, Hear, etc., and all that takes place within the mind. Therefore, the argument that it does not make a sound because it does exist and does make a vibration is illogical.

I would argue that it does make a sound, otherwise I would have to also not believe the tree exists.

Answer 3

That depends; is the forest in a vacuum? If the forest is not in a vacuum then sound was made. If it was in a vacuum (how exactly a forest got in a vacuum in the forest place is a better question) then no it would make no sound.

1* Sound is a disturbance of mechanical energy that propagates through matter as a pressure wave. Sound is characterized by the properties of sound waves, which are frequency, wavelength, period, amplitude, and speed. The later is sometimes referred to as 'sound velocity' but this is incorrect as it is not a vector quantity

2* Sound
noun
1. the sensation produced by stimulation of the organs of hearing by vibrations transmitted through the air or other medium.
2. mechanical vibrations transmitted through an elastic medium, traveling in air at a speed of approximately 1087 ft. (331 m) per second at sea level.
3. the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause: the sound of music.
4. any auditory effect; any audible vibrational disturbance: all kinds of sounds.
5. a noise, vocal utterance, musical tone, or the like: the sounds from the next room.

Answer 4

When a tree falls in the middle of the woods, it creates vibrations in the air. these would be picked by the ears and nervous system to be transformed into what we as humans experience as sound

So because there are no human ears to turns those vibrations in the air into sounds the falling tree doesn't make what we commonly think of as sounds

What the tree "sounds like" in an observer-less reality is unimaginable?

Answer 5

If the laws of physics apply and sound waves were generated, yes. If human cognition is dependent upon determining that the event happened by hearing those sound waves, no. This being a Zen koan, it is not meant to be a question about sound, but a way to puzzle about the nature of reality and whether human perception has anything to do with it.

Answer 6

THIS IS A RHETORICAL QUESTION.
The idea focuses in the flaw in the definition of the word "sound". It has to be audible. Audible means something has to hear it. By definition if it is not heard the "sound" didn't exist. It's just supposed to make you think.
But definition aside, it does make a sound... it's a freaking tree.

Answer 7

That is the age-old question. I say yes, and I'll tell you why.
If there's no one around (not even an animal) but there is a tape recorder there (and that is "no one"), it will record the sound -- so obviously a sound was made, whether or not anyone ever hears that sound is moot.

Answer 8

As sound is only a wave motion in the atmosphere, then that wave motion is there whether anybody hears it or not. So yes, it does make a sound. Only philosophers could not understand this.

Answer 9

sound is merely vibration. Human and animal ears convert that vibration in the air, also known as air waves, into sound. It does make vibration, but sound is about reception.

Answer 10

yes. Sound itself does not depend on a human being, of all creatures, to be there for it to exist.

Sound is sound. Period