if a tree falls in the middle of the forest and no one is allowed to hear it, does it make a sound?

Question

how can sound exist if no one is around to here it?

Answer 1

Here are the two basic answers.

Yes

A noise is a sound and a sound is a set of vibrating molecules referred to as sound waves. If a tree falls in the forest and makes a sound, it makes molecular vibrations, or sound waves, whether any human ear drum is around to sense them or not. So yes, it makes a noise. A person hearing it is irrelevant to the being of the sound. A person hearing it is only relevant to human consciousness of the sound.

Another argument for this viewpoint is based on theology. God observes the entire universe.

No

If a tree falls, and no one is around to hear it, it does not make a noise by definition. What is noise? What is sound? One must make sure to look at this question not from such a skewed view point to realize that he or she is being misled. From an early stage in our lives, through modern science, it is FACT that sound waves are processed in our brains, thus if we are not near the sound it is just an assumption that it does make a noise.

Sound travels through our ears, into the canal, and into the brain to allow for it to be processed by the brain, allowing for us to differentiate due to experiences that yes, it is that particular noise. However, one would not know the sound to be that way if they cannot imagine the situation. Thus, a human being or another entity must be present to absorb the vibrations, waves, etc in order to process the information.

Some take this further and claim that the whole universe does not really exist until it is observed.

Answer 2

The ear perceiving the sound is not the cause of the sound, so yes, the sound would still exist. Because the laws of physics and gravity, etc. do not require an ear hearing them to occur. The act of hearing is not a part of the process that caused the tree to fall in the first place! What if the ear perceives sound and no source for that sound can be found? Were they hearing things or was something actually making that sound, though the source of the sound cannot be found? It is heard but not seen! So is it all in one's mind?

Answer 3

From what "maybe_i'm" says , and from what YOU say, it does make a sound.
maybeim said sound is only vibration and not 'sound' as we think of it.because there is no 'ear' around to have it become such. so only atoms in motion then.
now 'you' say the the tree falls. and since it is a question, and we must answer it as being such. We must assume that all the information 'you' give is true and so.
therefore the tree without a doubt exists and falls, in a forest, ect.

and having done so and 'while' doing so , makes a noise (vibration) enevitably.
so, as sure as it existing, it makes a noise (vibration, no 'noise as noise requires ears)when it falls.

if in your question you had said that it fell in a world where no sound can exist then the answer would ofcourse be no.
it is up to the question and the accepted meaning of the terms.

Answer 4

Whether or not anyone is permitted to observe the action, nevertheless a tree falling would absolutely make a sound.

The sound does not require BEING HEARD to make the sound.

I can never believe the number of times this question, with slight variations appears in these forums.

Answer 5

Just because no one is around to hear it doesn't mean it doesn't make the sound. It still makes a sound, it's just that no one hears it. That goes for everything. If lightning strikes and no one hears it does that mean that it hasn't struck? Now, what if that lightning hits a tree and breaks off a big branch? If no one is around to see it does that means that the branch will not break? No! Things continue to happen even if people are not there to witness it.

Answer 6

a million) even as wooded area fires occour it burns down many overgrown timber and then disclose the wooded area floor, giving smaller plant life and shrubs a probability to strengthen and prosper 2) it supplies off minerals which many timber want to live to inform the tale 3) interior the 1960 firefighters used 2 kill off the hearth on the first signal of a spark, yet later they found that a tree commonplace because the massive Sequeia which mandatory an adequite quantity of warm temperature to realease the pods from the pine cones, so without fires there wouldbe no huge Sequoia. desire u chanced in this helpful -Keoka

Answer 7

Well if the tree fell in the middle of the woods. I am Going to guess that their are animals in these woods. So they would have heard it. And yes sound still exists even if people aren't around to hear it. That is my opinion at least.

Answer 8

Well, technically, no. We hear sound because of the vibrations things make. Yes, the tree will create vibrations, but those vibrations are not sound unless an ear is there to transmit them.

Answer 9

Yes it does make a sound, because sound, after all, is a vibration. Our ears pick up the vibration, and relay it to our brain, and the brain interprets it as sound.

But the bigger question is...

If a cat always lands on it's feet, and buttered bread always lands butter side down, if you butter a cat's back, will it land on it's feet or back?

Answer 10

YES, because although "no one is allowed to hear it" people are "allowed" to SEE it and FEEL the vibration of the sound.