Poll: Can someone tell me how this is unanswerable??

[wildpeaks]

OT: Whats the sound of one hand clapping?

Along these lines.

Hahaha

 

[James Cassidy]

Why are blackboards green?

here is one I always ask sports fans.

If it is called the "World Series" how come only American teams play?

 

[DP155ToneZone]

Hmmm, technically if there are no audially capable organisms around it does not make a sound but rather a soundwave. Soundwaves are just waves unless there is something there to interpret them as sound.

Nope, does not make a sound.

 

[warlored]

No no it dose not when the tree falls it makes a form of energy that is the converted to sound energy in are ear.

 

[Mstrswrd]

Inspired by the thread 'Unanswerable Questions' or something along those lines.

Okay, I'm pretty sure you all know that thing that goes 'If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?'.

Ofcourse it makes a sound. I don't see how it matters if people are there to hear it or not. >.>

Do you agree? And what do you think about other 'unanswerable' questions?

Just something to occupy my time ^.^

By the definition of sound, if a tree falls in a forrest, and no-one is there to hear it, no, it doesn't make a sound. Sound is the recognition of the movement of molecules caused by something, which, while that movement does occur even if no-one is there, without a living creature there to recognize the sound, it's just moving air molecules.

 

[US Crash Fire]

Yes it does make a sound. I talk to squirrels. They say it makes a noise if people are around or not.

 

[Erana]

You most notably didn't prove that the Earth is round. You're just providing evidence towards your case. You're also relying very heavily on the scientific theories on the behavior of light 'n such. I mean, you could as easily try and prove that there are no borealis by pointing at the night sky in Mexico, but be wrong.

On the basis that my sensory organs are functioning properly, I can conclude that the Earth is round. If I lay 1 kilometer of metal on the ground, and turn it on it's side without distorting it, I'd find it curved, as I would anywhere else on the planet.

I understand that this problem is only theoretical, but the problem is that anyone can do some basic measurements, prove the theories correct, and then extrapolate to form the more advanced one. There's 5 billion people in the world, and not a single one can disprove these theories.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_a_tree_falls_in_a_forest

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" is a philosophical riddle that raises questions regarding observation and knowledge of reality.

His philosophical musings had nothing to do with sound at all, neither its physical nature nor its metaphysical possibilities.

A truly unobserved event is one which realizes no effect (imparts no information) on any other (where 'other' might be e.g., human, sound-recorder or rock), it therefore can have no legacy in the present (or ongoing) wider physical universe. It may then be recognized that the unobserved event was absolutely identical to an event which did not occur at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_proof
Sorry, but you still can't prove the Earth is round by that logic.

And I guess I just interpreted the question differently than the guy who wrote it. I mean, if you make anything and put it out there, everyone's gonna come up with their own idea about it. My point (and interpretation) isn't invalidated by his intent.

But I don't much anything else from this conversation could be very constructive, so I'm gonna leave it at this.

 

[nickfurze]

Of course it makes a sound!!!

It's another one of those sayings like "If a butterfly flaps its wings in Venezuela it causes a Hurricaine in Finchley." Sorry, but honestly the only way it can work is as a metaphor where they both work quite well. But if you're speaking literally then they are garbage.

 

[Tonimata]

If I kill you, and you don't care, is it still homicide?
YESSS IT ISSSSS
A VERY FUNNY ONE

 

[Sven und EIN HUND]

Well um....Of course it makes a sound....

 

[wordsmith]

If a n00b whines on a message board, but no one's logged on, is it still annoying?

Of course it is.

Ahh, but is it? For it to be annoying, it has to annoy someone. If no-one reads it, it is not annoying.

 

[Murlin]

We know that sound exists because sound is perceived by our brains because of movements in the air which our ears are able to register and transmit through our nervous system

OT: Whats the sound of one hand clapping?

A bit like the sound of the wind blowing, only so soft or so high humans can't hear it.

 

[Woodsey]

How can sound exist if no one knows it exists?

Quite easily.

 

[JoshGod]

Spoiler: And the question is...

What colour does a Smurf go if you choke it?

Spoiler: And for those who don't know what a Smurf is.

Tricky, huh?

purple

 

[Agema]

By the definition of sound, if a tree falls in a forrest, and no-one is there to hear it, no, it doesn't make a sound. Sound is the recognition of the movement of molecules caused by something, which, while that movement does occur even if no-one is there, without a living creature there to recognize the sound, it's just moving air molecules.

Agreed entirely.

There an important difference between a physical event, and our interpretation of that event through our senses. For instance, "colour" is just interpretation of light at certain frequencies. Without our eyes and brains doing that interpreting, colour is a meaningless term.

If you want a more extreme and obvious example, take pain. Pain clearly exists, but only if there is a conscious, capable mind to sense it.

 

[GrinningManiac]

It's philosophical. Taking it literally is as dangerously silly as taking the bible literally, hence a lot of fucked-up christian and jewish branch-offs.

 

[ParkourMcGhee]

How can sound exist if no one knows it exists?

OT: Whats the sound of one hand clapping?

How could've other planets - no - galaxies have existed without people finding them? America even.

Refer to the simpsons episode where Bart claps with one hand, you just bend it. If you don't think that's a correct answer, then there is no way to clap with one hand because the action of clapping is hitting your hand against something - this could be itself, another hand, a wrist... it changes to banging when you start with the table though I think. Another form of one hand clapping would be using a teaspoon on a crystal glass I think.

What came before, the chicken or the egg? Dinosaurs had eggs -> egg came before.
If you specifically mean a chicken egg, it still came before the chicken because it's a change of genes from previous chickens or things just about but not quite chickens that a chicken came out of.

Fire away guys, there is no unanswerable question, there is only opinion on how to inperpret it .

 

[Sethzard]

This is pre sound waves, the waves are still created, but they just aren't heard.