If a tree falls in the woods does it make a sound?

This question bothers the shit out of me. My opinion is that "sound" is the perception of waves traveling through the air. So, to get technical, if there is no one to perceive the waves created by the vibration in the tree falling, there is no "sound", only waves traveling through the air. But I'm still not satisfied with that answer and it pisses me off.
 
^^^ the whole answer depends on whether you think its the perception of the waves or the waves period. id say it does make a sound because it makes sound waves despite the fact that there is no one to hear them.
 
You didn't say if there was anyone in the woods with the tree or not. Big factor there.
 
Yet another manifestation of the subjective vs. objective distinction, most often labled as the Fact/Value dichotomy.

Read some Rorty, Putnam, Elgin, and McDowell to get a good grasp on the issue at hand. These things wont hand you an answer but they certainly will deepen your understanding of Truth as it exists in the world.
 
The answer to that questioned depends on whether you're an intellectualist or a voluntarist (two groups of philosophical thinkers back from the 16'th century.) What it can be boiled down to is what you believe the salient property of God is. an intellectualist would claim that God is logical, and governed by the rules of logic. In other words not even God could make a round square.

the voluntarists were the blokes over in England that claimed that God's salient property was his will-- in other words whatever God wills, will happen. This meant that all scientific data was only a testament for the moment it was done, however it was not to be relied upon as proof for future reference. Out of this arose questions such as If a tree falls in the woods does it make a sound.

An intellectualist would say yes it does based on the fact that it makes a sound when it is observed and the absence of an observer would not change any of circumstances where the sound is produced.

The voluntarists would say that you cannot answer that question; it is possible that a tree could fall in the woods and not make a sound if God wills it as such.
 
there are sounds that human beings cannot hear, so sounds are not the human interpretation.they exist without the aid of any exterior help.

It will make a sound, but it will just fade away as if nothing happened before anyone notices it
 
I believe that our universe is a finite piece of space with its own rules and order. Outside is where God may be and the laws that apply to our universe are moot there. For me that would answer the questions like "who created God" because if God isn't bound by logic and laws he could be infinitely old.

But with the tree I guess it should make a sound.
 
a cocky kid goes off a jump with a blind landing form your point, and goes down sidways, you see him ride away several seconds later, did he land the trick
 
Sound is a mechanical longitudinal wave. They are a physical compression of air, so I would say that a tree falling makes a sound regardless of observer.
 
In order for somebody to answer this, there needs to be an indisputable definition of sound and sound waves, and it needs to be shown that they are either different or the same.
 
Unless all these responses are from Wiki/Google, there is ACTUALLY some decent knowledge on this website.
 
well energy can not be destryoed nor created, it can only be converted into different types of energy. this is proven. so the energy of the falling tree when it hits the ground is then converted into sound energy, therefor it creats a sound.
 
The sound is akin to the muffled yelp of a bear shitting in the woods.

Hey, you had your famous sayin', I thought I'd throw another one in.

And yeah, it does make a sound, because the compression of air would yield, as freezed said, mechanical longitudinal waves, which is sound, regardless of any observer's presence.
 
that is to say, only if you believe that the emperical evidence of today will hold true for tomorrow, which was the discussion in which the question was framed, durring its time.

but i am glad to say that we have come to agree upon the fact that what happens today, will also be true tomorrow, and that God can not change the way the world is at his will.
 
Well yes, because he set definitions for things. Triangles will not have 4 sides, ever.

It's not some sort of undermining of omnipotence of God's either, that he "can not change the world at his will", it is a mere impossibility since God defined the world, and that definition does not change (though "interfere" as part of his creation he can, the ever popular "miracle").

I'm sure you know that, I'm just poitning it out.
 
oh i do, but the thing is that the framework in which the question was orrigionaly set (back in the 1500's) people were actually arguing over whether or not God could make a 4 sided triangle, and the Britts aka voluntarists said that if God so willed it, it could.

 
Let me answer this question with another question, how many ambidigionals do you see modeling?
 
Of course it does, just nobody heard it. If the tree falls it will hit stuff and make noise. It doesn't go "theres nobody here so i wont make a sound" trees dont make a decsion.
 
The falling tree will make vibrations in the atmosphere, otherwise known as sound. If it falls in space though, even if someone is around, no, it will not make a sound.
 
Yes, because despite our subjective perspective, we are led to believe that there is such thing as reality, and if we accept that reality is in fact real, then objective happenings occur whether or not we percieve them, thus the tree may fall in reality without anyone hearing it.
 
yes. just because there is no one standing nearby, it doesnt mean that the tree falls silently.

it would make just as much noise as it would if there was someone within audible range.

end thread.
 
"If a tree falls in the woods does it make a sound?"

only if you have a tape recorder to prove it
 
yes. it would.

you could find stupid loopholes like this for anything. like:

if no one could see he sun whould it be shining?

if you couldnt feel or see it, did it touch you?

those are just a few off the top of my head but the answer is simple. yes. its physics. it will make sound. just because there is no one there to hear it doesnt mean it didnt happen.
 
I perfer the self centristic way of approaching this. The tree may never have even fallen, rather a fallen tree is a random part of a whole illusion dreamed up by my imagination
 
"If a tree in the forest falls on a mime, does anyone car?"

That is classic Gary Larson material.
 
*ANSWER*

it depends on how the question is viewed. scientifically the tree falling still sends out a frequency of waves which is what your ear picks up as vibration and interprets into sound. this raises the question on the opposing side. if sound is just waves that are interpreted by an ear but there is no ear around to interpret it is it still a sound or simply waves in the air. can there be sound if there is no ear and message to the brain to interpret vibration is the final question. you be the judge.

excluding the critters
 
thats part of the illusion of reality. the sound would be real in every sense of the word, but the word real, and reality itself could all be an illusion
 
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