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"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

VeronicaAnn 7 Apr 5
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11 comments

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Yes. Sound is a physical property. I guess you could just as easily ask, if a person gets an infection, but had no symptoms, did they get sick?

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Still a reasonable question, but if an electron passes through a slit and no one observes it, does the wavefunction ever collapse? 😉

Yes it did. Prove me wrong. 😁

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A. The question implies that if there was someone around to hear it it makes a sound. That sound doesn't go away just because no one hears it.

B. If you're all alone in your house and you scream, did you not make a sound because no one else was in the house?

lerlo Level 8 Apr 6, 2020
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Depends how you define the word 'sound'. Does it mean pressure waves in the air, or brain activity triggered when ears detect pressure waves in the air ? The questions that that point in turn raises therefore are. Is it possible to express truth using human language ? Is all philosophy merely about defining words ? Is all philosophy bogus since it is impossible to reach truth using human language ? Is it a mistake to believe that human language can be a source of truth ? And. Is all knowledge merely linguistic sophistry ?

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It depends, says a child of the new millennium. Let me check and see is there any sonic or audio sensors on site recording data.

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No, I have never heard a tree speak.

Yes, it makes a sound. In fact, it makes lots of sounds.

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Yes. The same science applies whether someone is there or not.

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Perhaps. I’m kinda agnostic about it 😜

@VeronikaAnnJ

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Even an insect might respond, and there are no sterile forests, so yes.

Indeed! It would be pompous to assume that human ears are the only ears that matter!

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Is sound a vibration in the air or the way that vibration is interpreted by an animal brain.

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No. Sound is the sensation excited in the ear when the air or other medium is set in motion."

The Chautauquan, 1883, vol. 3, no. 9, p. 543

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