Sound is basically waves in the air that we interpret as sound right? so if we don't interpret the vibrations as "sound" then there is in fact no sound at all ,correct? well then, lets say that a something falls down on the other side of the world, and no living organism is around to "hear" it does it still make a sound?
2007-10-22 14:11:08 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Sound is vibrations in the air and it happens whether anyone hears it or not.
If you want to define sound as the mental process produced by our ears then obviously it doesn't occur if nobody hears it. But to me it makes more sense to define sound as the vibrations, not their detection.
2007-10-22 14:15:01 · answer #1 · answered by John 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
How very Tao of you.
according to physics, if something falls in the forrest under normal conditions then it does make a noise by principle.
by phillosophy, no it does not make a sound because sound is merely the way we interpret something, just the same way that what i call 'red' and what you call 'red' may be two completely different colors, but we've been taught thats what it is and have no experience with any other definition.
ofcourse, according to tao, you never existed until i read your question because i had no interpretation of your existance, just as i would not exist if i did not have an interpretation of my own being.
ahhhh i love obscure phillosophy
2007-10-22 21:15:05 · answer #2 · answered by Ian F 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sound is sound. Whether we hear it or not. For instance, there may be a tree in the middle of a forest that falls but nobody is there to hear it. However, if someone was there, they would have heard it anyway. I would continue philosophizing but I got stuck. So I'll just leave it at that.
2007-10-22 21:15:15 · answer #3 · answered by mountainman_chuck 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sound - the sensation produced by stimulation of the organs of hearing by vibrations transmitted through the air or other medium.
or
mechanical vibrations transmitted through an elastic medium, traveling in air at a speed of approximately 1087 ft. (331 m) per second at sea level.
2007-10-22 21:14:06 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it still makes the vibrations because it made an impact on the Earth. If you look away from something that's blue will it still be blue when your head it turned? It's the same situation.
2007-10-22 21:13:51 · answer #5 · answered by Be 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sound is a disturbance of mechanical energy that propagates through matter as a wave (through fluids as a compression wave, and through solids as both compression and shear waves). Sound is further characterized by the generic properties of waves, which are frequency, wavelength, period, amplitude, speed, and direction (sometimes speed and direction are combined as a velocity vector, or wavelength and direction are combined as a wave vector).
2007-10-22 22:51:21 · answer #6 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If a man makes a statement in a forest with no woman around to comment, is he still wrong?
"Science of the Spoken Word," Mark Prophet, explains sound.
cordially,
j.
2007-10-23 18:38:50 · answer #7 · answered by j153e 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes it still makes a sound since the waves still occur, even if we "interpret" them as sound, it still would be considered sound if someone WAS there to hear it.
2007-10-22 21:14:35 · answer #8 · answered by pinoypride333 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Another stupid philosopher. You already said it was vibrations in the air so it doesn't matter if there is a "living" thing to hear it.
2007-10-22 21:15:26 · answer #9 · answered by Mike1942f 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes, long story behind that. if a tree falls in a forest, it still makes a sound.
2007-10-22 21:13:35 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋