To actually answer this question u would need more info. Because if u would say the tree made noise, but no one was around to hear it. Then the answer would be yes it does make a sound.

It all depends on the wording of the question. what type of tree was it, was it falling into the water or was it falling in tall grass, etc. This was mentioned before but if u were to set up surveillance then u could truly confirm the validity of the answer. There question needs to be more specific to have only one answer to it.

Philosophical, huh? Hmm.... I guess some would say yes and others would deny it... I'm one of the yes people....

Edit--
Are there supposed to be different interpretations of this question? ......because it reminds me of the Casey Anthony trial. :\

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philosophical question 😀

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It being a philosophical question more or so puts insurance on that it will not have one true answer.

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"Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth." - Albert Camus

Wikipedia says....Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, OR the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.

So, by this definition, yes I'd say it makes a sound. Just because no ones around, doesn't mean its not creating sufficient frequencies.

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Wikipedia says....Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, OR the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.

So, by this definition, yes I'd say it makes a sound. Just because no ones around, doesn't mean its not creating sufficient frequencies.

A bit of sarcasm here but what if it's a forest transplanted on the moon, no air to vibrate.
There was, after all, no given location for said forest.

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A bit of sarcasm here but what if it's a forest transplanted on the moon, no air to vibrate. There was, after all, no given location for said forest.

Yes, there would be. You just can't hear it, but a snake would 😛

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A bit of sarcasm here but what if it's a forest transplanted on the moon, no air to vibrate. There was, after all, no given location for said forest.

Yes, there would be. You just can't hear it, but a snake would 😛

And if the forest is void of snakes and all other creatures?
Face it, that's not out of the realm of possibilities.

Nulla in mundo pax sincera
"Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth." - Albert Camus

I hate this question. Of course it makes a sound. End of story.

I'll try to be sly and point out that the question was never about a tree tree hitting the ground but about a tree falling. But then even a tree only falling would make rustle or "whoosh" noises. So, if it was falling in a perfect vacuum? That would rip the tree apart before it could do any falling. Mind you, even in space there's no perfect vacuum. So since the tree can't be in a perfect vacuum, not in one piece anyway, there will always be atoms to vibrate around it, creating sound. And I don't give a damn if anybody is around to hear it.

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If you believe only things you perceive through your senses exist, then if there is nobody around to hear the tree fall, it doesn't make a sound.

If you believe that reality exists even if there aren't subjects that can perceive it, then it makes a sound.

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A bit of sarcasm here but what if it's a forest transplanted on the moon, no air to vibrate. There was, after all, no given location for said forest.

Yes, there would be. You just can't hear it, but a snake would 😛

And if the forest is void of snakes and all other creatures?
Face it, that's not out of the realm of possibilities.

But plants are living creatures too so technically the tree would hear itself fall.

[img]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/13.jpg[/img]

Ever since reading it, this question always makes me think back to this post on Less Wrong.

Or to summarize: "It makes an alberzle but not a bargulum. What's the next question?"

But plants are living creatures too so technically the tree would hear itself fall.

Only if it's a tree that's capable of processing sound. I don't think we have any of those on Earth, but hey, there was no mention of which planet the tree was from!

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Ever since reading it, this question always makes me think back to this post on Less Wrong.

Or to summarize: "It makes an alberzle but not a bargulum. What's the next question?"

But plants are living creatures too so technically the tree would hear itself fall.

Only if it's a tree that's capable of processing sound. I don't think we have any of those on Earth, but hey, there was no mention of which planet the tree was from!

But we don't know if trees are capable of communicating with other plants so we can't exactly claim that it would or wouldn't hear it's own sound. 😃

[img]http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/13.jpg[/img]

Here's my view of it: Sound is basically vibrations in the air and humans feel those vibrations as long as the decibel does not go below 20 Hz and not above 20000 Hz (yeah, I took Physics.) So just because no one is there to hear those vibrations doesn't mean that there is no sound. Dolphins and whales can make certain sounds that even when humans are near them, they don't hear those sounds. Humans use dog whistles which make a sound that is too high-pitched for humans to hear yet every dog in the neighborhood can hear. So just because nothing is around that is able to pick up the noise, it doesn't mean that there is no sound, duh. =P

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"I don't know," Alice answered.
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Ever since reading it, this question always makes me think back to this post on Less Wrong.

Or to summarize: "It makes an alberzle but not a bargulum. What's the next question?"

But plants are living creatures too so technically the tree would hear itself fall.

Only if it's a tree that's capable of processing sound. I don't think we have any of those on Earth, but hey, there was no mention of which planet the tree was from!

But we don't know if trees are capable of communicating with other plants so we can't exactly claim that it would or wouldn't hear it's own sound. 😃

To the best of my knowledge they are lacking the sensory organs required for processing sound. So, it's pretty safe to say the average tree can't hear shit

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