Poll: Can someone tell me how this is unanswerable??
- Thread starter skywalkerlion
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though the question is meant to be a purely philosophical one, I will interpret the direct meaning and answer thus.
No, as the "sound waves" people seem to love to call them are more specifically particular vibrations. Without a being translating those vibrations using corresponding vibrations in the inner ear, as sound it isn't sound, it's impact and motion causing molecules to bump into each other.
The question as a philosophical one, has a meaning along the lines of.
How do we even know we exist? (using the tree falling as our existence continuing. and the sound being definitive proof of it being real, or some such)
(the answer is no we cannot prove we exist using any form of logic, for all we know life is an illusion and we'll live it no matter the real reality outside our knowledge... so why bother asking)
No, as the "sound waves" people seem to love to call them are more specifically particular vibrations. Without a being translating those vibrations using corresponding vibrations in the inner ear, as sound it isn't sound, it's impact and motion causing molecules to bump into each other.
The question as a philosophical one, has a meaning along the lines of.
How do we even know we exist? (using the tree falling as our existence continuing. and the sound being definitive proof of it being real, or some such)
(the answer is no we cannot prove we exist using any form of logic, for all we know life is an illusion and we'll live it no matter the real reality outside our knowledge... so why bother asking)
Well according to my Digital Audio instructor, the vibrations that we perceive as sound can't actually be called sounds until they are perceived by something that can perceive them as sound, such as our ears or a microphone. So if a tree falls in a forest and nothing is around to hear, technically it doesn't make a sound; it still generates the vibrations that are perceived though.
One, the question isn't about trees.
Two, to be literal. Yes, "science" states that the vibrations or "waves" are made regardless of reception. However, both Webster's and Wiki's definitions required interpretation or to be heard to qualify as sound.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sound
However, it is a philosophical question in the first place and is meant more as however you want to interpret it, but not necessarily have a specific "answer".
Two, to be literal. Yes, "science" states that the vibrations or "waves" are made regardless of reception. However, both Webster's and Wiki's definitions required interpretation or to be heard to qualify as sound.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sound
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound
Can it be answered literally? Yes, it can. The answer, is no. It makes vibrations that could be interpreted as sound, but such vibrations are not considered sound until they are interpreted/received as such.
However, it is a philosophical question in the first place and is meant more as however you want to interpret it, but not necessarily have a specific "answer".
it's one of those quantum mechanical things sure every time you observe it there is a noise but by observing it you change the outcome. no not really it's an philosophical thing I never got it my self the basis (I think) is do things persist while we aren't near them.
The point is that the concept of sound is a label that has been applied by humans, so if it falls, while it will still cause several air particles to vibrate (such that a human would believe it to be making a sound), it will not make a sound as no humans are there to say so.
If you don't understand I will persistently rephrase this until you do
If you don't understand I will persistently rephrase this until you do
You just slap the palm of your hand with your fingers...eatmorebabiesmmg00d said:
Yeah, I thought that till I read a bit on quantum physics - I'd try and explain it but it made my brain hurt just reading it, so I'd probably just balls it up.orangebandguy said:
How or why are usually very easy to understand when it come to falling trees mate. Noise isn't noise unless someone picks it up though; it would just be sound waves (vibrations) that never got to be sound.sonicmaster1989 said:
Yes.
But this reminds me of Schroedinger's Cat (not relevant here as a tree falling is a non-random event), where the proposition was a cat in a lead lined box with a radio-isotope, how could you tell if the cat is dead or alive.
I said "Easy, pick up the box and shake it: If it goes 'GRAUUUWW RAWWW GRAAA!' then it's alive but if it goes 'Thud-Thud-Thud' then it's dead"
But this reminds me of Schroedinger's Cat (not relevant here as a tree falling is a non-random event), where the proposition was a cat in a lead lined box with a radio-isotope, how could you tell if the cat is dead or alive.
I said "Easy, pick up the box and shake it: If it goes 'GRAUUUWW RAWWW GRAAA!' then it's alive but if it goes 'Thud-Thud-Thud' then it's dead"
I didn't read every response so forgive me if somebody else has brought this point up already:
Regarding the question "Which came first, the chicken or the egg" the answer has been proven to be Egg since Dinosaurs have been laying eggs millions of years before the existence of chickens
Regarding the question "Which came first, the chicken or the egg" the answer has been proven to be Egg since Dinosaurs have been laying eggs millions of years before the existence of chickens
I made up a more realistic (and sarcastic) version of that whole tree in a forest thing.
*ahem*
If a tree falls in a forest and no one's around to hear it, does anyone give a shit?
*ahem*
If a tree falls in a forest and no one's around to hear it, does anyone give a shit?
sorry, computer's fuckin up (I only hit post once, it took forever to load, and it double posted on me)
It's a reference to post-structuralism and existentialism.
But s/he probably said it as a joke.
But s/he probably said it as a joke.