If a tree falls and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
14 years ago
Posts: 298
Quote from Turbophoenix
Quote from Joentjuh
Quote from Turbophoenix
[quote=sarah-eats-cupcakes][quote=ForteAtrox]Isn't the earth itself a good example of that?
how so?
are you talking about the core of earth or something else?It means is that the planet is here. We know how planets form and how long it takes, so we know that the planet was here for over a billion years before humans were around. The earth didn't just pop into existence as it is.
Bad argument.
The tree falls, that's a fact (it's the basis for the statement). The question is, does it make a sound?
It depends on your definition of sound, if you define sound by that what you hear, then no.. It doesn't make a sound if there is no observer to hear it (animal or human).
If you define sound by vibration in the air, then yes it does make a sound.
Same with light or pretty much anything else.
Sound and light are basically both just vibrations, it's your interpretation of those vibrations that make in sound or light.[/quote]
Sound happens, the same way that the tree falling over happens. It's not open to interpretation.[/quote]
Yes and no. True, the fall of the tree produces vibrations (i.e. sound waves), this is not disputed.
The real question is what is sound and when do we call it such. As I said, it's just vibration in the air. If our ears were tuned differently we would perceive a different range of frequences as 'sound'.
Sometimes you can see sound, sometimes you can hear light... Without an observer there is no interpretation and classification.
'Sound' is just a label we put a certain set of frequencies we can hear. If we can't hear, it's not sound.
It doesn't really matter if you say it does or it does not produce 'sound', it all depends or definition and interpretation.
14 years ago
Posts: 1127
Quote from Turbophoenix
Quote from sarah-eats-cupcakes
Quote from ForteAtrox
Isn't the earth itself a good example of that?
how so?
are you talking about the core of earth or something else?It means is that the planet is here. We know how planets form and how long it takes, so we know that the planet was here for over a billion years before humans were around. The earth didn't just pop into existence as it is.
actually no we still dont know how earth was formed..theres only theories(like the big bang
) and none of them were proofed..but i get your point
Member14 years ago
Posts: 301
Quote from sarah-eats-cupcakes
Quote from Turbophoenix
Quote from sarah-eats-cupcakes
[quote=ForteAtrox]Isn't the earth itself a good example of that?
how so?
are you talking about the core of earth or something else?It means is that the planet is here. We know how planets form and how long it takes, so we know that the planet was here for over a billion years before humans were around. The earth didn't just pop into existence as it is.
actually no we still dont know how earth was formed..theres only theories(like the big bang
) and none of them were proofed..but i get your point[/quote]
Big Bang is the origin of the Universe, not a planet. I'm pretty sure we know how planets and even suns are formed... or at least we know enough about the process to make educated theories. I dunno, I saw it on a doco once.
14 years ago
Posts: 336
Quote from demonblaze0
Quote from Skinny Kazoo
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.
I also forgot to give the example of the tree existing in a parallel dimention in which sound does not exist, audible or inaudible (even scientists believe there are an infinite number of dimentions with infinite possibilities).
All choices are made in fear,
What you fear more is the only difference.
Positive decisions are made in fear negative consequences,
Negitive decisions are made in fear of positive decisions not giving the outcome you want.
Embarrassment is the fear of people knowing your real thoughts.
Greed is the fear of having too little.
Demonblaze0's personal thoughts
14 years ago
Posts: 44
yes.
Does the earth spin if no one can feel it?
yes
Like keeps on dropping bombs
14 years ago
Posts: 298
Quote from draw160
yes.
Does the earth spin if no one can feel it?
yes
You might want to work a bit on you discussion skills.
While there is nothing wrong with having an opinion, you might want to substantiate your answers with some arguments or reasoning before sharing them with the world.
Adding a nonsensical argument with an equally short answer doesn't really help in making your point.
Quote from demonblaze0
Quote from demonblaze0
Quote from Skinny Kazoo
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.I also forgot to give the example of the tree existing in a parallel dimention in which sound does not exist, audible or inaudible (even scientists believe there are an infinite number of dimentions with infinite possibilities).
But isn't there still movement, which a frequency basically is, even if a tree were to fall in a vacuum... Where would the energy otherwise go?
Of course, the frequencies would be different so we would probably not call it sound.
The parallel dimensions argument is highly speculative, there is no way to know if they follow the same basic laws as ours, or if they even exist... Other galaxies could be possible (it has been proven most other galaxies don't follow the same 'laws of nature' as ours does.
14 years ago
Posts: 303
Sure :3
If you ate breakfast and no one saw you ate, that doesn't mean you didn't eat it lol
14 years ago
Posts: 1127
Quote from ChocoKun
Sure :3
If you ate breakfast and no one saw you ate, that doesn't mean you didn't eat it lol
haha but you were eating it right?
in the question,no one was around the tree,but YOU were eating the food so its not the same
14 years ago
Posts: 497
Supposedly there are plenty of deep-sea creatures and insects that haven't been seen before, that doesn't mean they don't exist, right?
On the same logic, there could have been a huge treasure buried in your backyard for 200 years; just because you don't know of its existence doesn't mean it's not there.
14 years ago
Posts: 284
Okay I will just end this by saying that sound can only exist if it's been somewhat receipted or recored. It is as simple as two deaf people in a room shouting at each other for awhile there is no sound until someone walks in to interperate it.
In other words if no one was around to hear it then there is no one to interperate the vibration we call sound through the air. You're all over complicating things lol.
It makes sense if you think about it.
14 years ago
Posts: 257
It doesn't really matter if you say it does or it does not produce 'sound', it all depends or definition and interpretation.
Thank you! Guys, come on, this is not a philosophical question, it's an argument of definition! It boils down to: do you consider sound to be vibrations in the air, or to be the auditory experience that occurs when something hears those vibrations? The fact that both concepts use the same word is what triggers an argument, so let's tidy this up.
Let's say the "vibration" definition for sound is actually called VibraSounds. And the "experience" definition is actually called "HearingSounds".
So, if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Answer: It makes VibraSounds but not HearingSounds.
Can we stop now?
14 years ago
Posts: 100
i always interpret that sentence as do your actions matter if no one knows about them
14 years ago
Posts: 298
Quote from eblees
i always interpret that sentence as do your actions matter if no one knows about them
Yes they do, or do you live for the approval of others? 🙂
14 years ago
Posts: 1127
Quote from Joentjuh
Quote from eblees
i always interpret that sentence as do your actions matter if no one knows about them
Yes they do, or do you live for the approval of others? 🙂
finally someone gets the point of this 😃
14 years ago
Posts: 284
Quote from sarah-eats-cupcakes
Quote from Joentjuh
Quote from eblees
i always interpret that sentence as do your actions matter if no one knows about them
Yes they do, or do you live for the approval of others? 🙂
finally someone gets the point of this 😃
I honestly don't see why it's so difficult to understand that it's only vibrations through the air that the tree will emit untill someone or something interperates these vibrations into sound.
