2007-01-16 19:28:28 · 14 answers · asked by Sarcastic Gazette 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
You are either a senior in high school or a freshman in college!
No - it causes vibrations (sound waves if you will) but requires a mechanism to cause the vibration to be heard as sound - our ear, a microphone et al.
2007-01-16 19:38:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No.
What we experience as 'sound' is our brain's interpretation of vibrating air molecules in our ears.
A falling tree will no doubt release kinetic energy causing the air around it to vibrate. But if no one is there to interpret the vibrations of the air molecules there could be no sound in every sense of the word.
Philosophically, this question encapsulates the debate between idealists and realists. The later describing reality as being independent of our experience and the former noting that it is a bit more personal.
In solving this debate, we have reduced it to a question of semantics - sound, not air vibrations, effectively side stepping the question of whether something is real if I (or someone else) does not personally experience it.
So going back to the question:
Does a falling tree cause the air to vibrate if no one is there to observe the air vibrations (hear it) ?
Which then begs the question, can we actually make such an induction (deduction is clearly impossible) based on a million instances of falling trees observed?
Naive proponents of Science will say yes. Clever Scots like David Humes will just snicker and ask if we believe that the sun will still rise tomorrow despite having done so for the last few years of our lives.
Furthermore, one cannot discount the possibility that air molecules vibrate ONLY because of the presence of an observer, human or otherwise. Ludicrous as it may seem, it cannot be proven either way.
2007-01-17 04:14:02 · answer #2 · answered by themarxx 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes, just because no one hears don't mean it did not make a sound. and how would you know if a tree fell in the forest?? by hearing it fall in the first place.
2007-01-17 03:33:07 · answer #3 · answered by Hollow ✌ 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Themarxx gave an excellent answer as to why this "dumb" question is so popular in philosophy.
In addition, this is in answer to all the ghost philosophers who have been doubting their senses and whether they experience what is real. If something is out there that we can't see, touch, smell, hear, or taste, either directly or indirectly (as in wind making trees sway), then it doesn't exist. You might say that reality is different from what we see, but if reality is not what we see, touch, smell, hear, or taste (directly or indirectly) then who cares about it?
2007-01-17 04:39:18 · answer #4 · answered by ragdefender 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If a tree falls in the forest and no one see it fall, did the tree really fall down?
2007-01-17 03:41:42 · answer #5 · answered by Leroy 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It makes a sound if you're there to hear it. Otherwise the only others that can hear it make a sound are the animals. How would we prove that.....ask them?
2007-01-17 03:32:54 · answer #6 · answered by stompstone_88 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We can only make a guess. We can't say anything with certainty. However, your question is too creative. I used think this way when was a kid. Appreciate you for such an inetesting question. A big thmbs up to you
2007-01-17 03:57:49 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. If the sound doesn't reach a living thing with ears, it never happened.
2007-01-17 04:01:50 · answer #8 · answered by Dark Manifest 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes.
2007-01-17 03:36:59 · answer #9 · answered by Better_than_you 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
obviously. it would make sound regardless of anyone hearing it
2007-01-17 03:31:46 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋