when a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a noise?

Question

today i am bored!

i don't really want the answer, was just being daft.

and JEWEL get a life and stop being so childish . grow up and start using your brain and some respect

Answer 1

More importantly.....

...If a man stands in a forest and there is no woman to hear him...is he still wrong?

Answer 2

Of course. There does not need to be an observer for there to be a noise. Though we cannot be absolutely certain unless we were there, scientific method has shown that the noise is always present whether there is an observer or not. The usual scientific disclaimer applies: It is true until it is found not to be.

I am glad that you made a distinction between sound and noise, as sound requires an interpretive observer in order to be defined as sound, whereas noise does is not subject to an interpretive observer. An animal cannot be considered to be such an observer as the animal's frame of reference is too different to be useully interpretive.

Now, you might consider the obverse of this in that there is NO NOISE if a human is around to hear it, as it instead makes A SOUND. You could also argue that the recording is a noise UNTIL a human hears it, at which point it is no longer a noise but sound instead.

Answer 3

This is not a scientific question, it is a metaphysical one. And I guess an existentialist one although I don't really understand existentialism and doubt the inventors of existentialism do either. There is an example of a reframing of your question now that I think of it- if no one understands existentialism including its inventors then does it exist as a concept.

This question is asking you to think. What is the definition of "noise" for example. But more metaphysically than that- what is perception. If I say a piece of wood is brown and someone else sees it and calls it brown are we seeing the same thing? Or are we seeing different shapes and coours but identify them the same way. That is what the question is really getting at- is reality and illusion etc etc

It is worth discussing and far more profound than people may think- its not intended to be taken literally

Answer 4

we were just talking about that in class the other day. I can see that you are bored, me too. we I belive that it does make noise. It does not mean that since no one was there, then it did not make noise. but the fact is that is fell. and when a tree fals it has to hit the ground, thus it will make a noise. it is like may things in life. you can say our very existance on this planet. We exist like the fallen tree. we see the base of the tree craked, because it was dicaying in side, we also see signs through our history about changes on earth, we hear stories about creation. in other words we try to explain why we are here or why the tree fell. whether this sound is creation or evolution, the fact is there is something. something did happen. we can not just say it did not happen, just because we were not there to experiance it for our selves. I do not know it i make sense, but i tried.

Answer 5

The simple answer is that we have no way of knowing. We have no reason to assume that anything exists if we are not perceiving it (or that anything exists even when we are perceiving it, but that's a different question). For all we know, if we can't hear, touch, taste, smell or see something, then it may simply cease to exist. Not only might the tree not make a sound if we aren't there to hear it, it might not be there to fall in the first place.

Answer 6

Of course. Life happens - whether you're there or not to see, hear, smell, touch, taste, feel, or experience it. Sound is a disturbance of mechanical energy that propagates through matter as a longitudinal wave. Sound is characterized by the properties of sound waves, which are frequency, wavelength, period, amplitude, and speed.

Humans perceive sound by the sense of hearing. By sound, we commonly mean the vibrations that travel through air and can be heard by humans. However, scientists and engineers use a wider definition of sound that includes low and high frequency vibrations in air that cannot be heard by humans, and vibrations that travel through all forms of matter, gases, liquids and solids.

The matter that supports the sound is called the medium. Sound propagates as waves of alternating pressure, causing local regions of compression and rarefaction. Particles in the medium are displaced by the wave and oscillate. The scientific study of sound is called acoustics.

Answer 7

i wonder why so many ask this question?

It could well be connected to the person who talked of sound
as well as noise; Defining things; this obsession with "definition" is widespread,so much so that one could almost say that those who crave definitions,do not crave real
or proper knowledge.
what i mean is its as if they need to be
"told", possibly by "experts"(here for example?), what (the
definition is of) sound and noise is!!
At least count me out of that so-called clever Noise!

Answer 8

According to the laws of physics yes it does. However, according to the Philosophical nature of your question it isn't necessary for it to make a sound because no one is there to hear it. Hence the action of that sound is wasted and therefore in question. Isn't it amazing how we humans tend to believe that all things must act within our sphere of influence in order for them to be real?

Answer 9

What makes you think the tree fell? Maybe those darn animals in the forest quietly push it over.

Answer 10

Yes, to creatures that have ears. Those that don`t, feel a vibration. If there were no creatures at all there would be no noise, but then there would be no trees.----- I`m bored now--------------Whad a loda bob, eh ?.