Thinking about the question:"If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" you may answer in a deeper sense.
If a naturally big occurrence happens in an area (big for the area, not necessarily big for anyone else), and the noise signals that something has happened; For places or people where the event does not effect, was there a sound or occurrence in the first place?
In other words, do others need to care about it or just pretend nothing happened (because for them, it doesn't matter)?
I believe even if people are not present there is still a sound. Sound meaning a voice signaling or warning that something has happened. The voice, sound, noise, whatever could also be a cry for help.
Politically you could think a small issue occurs in a big region, and within the big region there is a small area that is effected in a huge way by it. Should the rest of the areas within the region be alarmed about what has happened to the small area and help it even though nothing happened to them? I think yes.
There are many different ways you could interpret this question in this sense. I'll leave it to others to think of other ways you could apply this question. Some may take it literally and scientifically, some will search for a hidden deeper meaning.
Last Edit: Mar 11, 2013 13:22:42 GMT -5 by Mursilis
Mursilis. You are now one of my favorite people. You are the chosen one, the enlightened, the one for whom I have been waiting. Too dramatic? TOO BAD! Dumb physics arguments.
Mursilis. You are now one of my favorite people. You are the chosen one, the enlightened, the one for whom I have been waiting. Too dramatic? TOO BAD! Dumb physics arguments.
You flatter me... lol Thank you! Well, you could interpret things in many different ways.
This topic is making quite a few waves! (no pun here)
My argument would be if a hidden microphone were to be in the vicinity of the tree, and there was not a soul around to hear it, the sound could still be heard if the tree fell through the microphone's recording. Therefore, sound is sound, a flock of birds would probably hear it/feel it and fly away frightened at least. I think everyone is kind of over-thinking this 'wave' concept. It happens, the way cannibalism happens in the Amazon and other parts of the world. We might not think about it everyday, but it's going on.
By saying that a tree does not make a sound in the woods, simply because we were not there to witness it, portrays mankind's belief that we must be involved with something for it to have any significance. Nature is a force completely separate from us, giving it the ability to have events occur without our knowledge and still have validity. A tree falling has major significance to nature and the ecosystem that it presides in, whether or not the incident is witnessed, does not negate this. Therefore whether or not a person hears it, a tree will always make a sound f it falls in a forest.
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Post by goathorns on Sept 19, 2014 10:11:43 GMT -5
Since the question did not state any conditions, we must make assumptions. Usually in physics problems we assume a spherical tree in a complete vacuum on a frictionless surface. Therefore the tree does not make a sound since there is no air.
Post by SouthernSevenEmpire on Oct 16, 2015 15:54:51 GMT -5
Your unconscious mind should in theory be able to pick up on the fact that a tree has fallen somewhere. It is able to observe everything simultaneously, that's every single possibility for everything. It's sensing things that you simply can't even fathom to sense.
That's all very well me saying, but as for the sound. Well it really depends does sound require an observer for it to exist? Does time require an observer? Does space require an observer? Do these things actually exist though or is it all implanted in our mind? Is sound simulated by the mind? If sound is simulated, then everything else could also be, the laws of physics, the trains, buses. Planes, everything!
So does it make a sound? Define sound! If we're just talking vibrations, then yes it does. Imagine a pile of books falling from a shelf. Imagine the noise it would make as the shelf falls off the wall. Now imagine you are deaf. To you the pile of books makes no sound. Imagine a frequency played above 20,000Hz, this also makes a sound, but we cannot hear it.
Sound can exist on its own, but without an observer, it is irrelevant. While the unconscious mind will understand it, your conscious mind won't. So yes it does make a sound, but you cannot hear it. An obvious answer from such a longwinded explanation.
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It depends on the definition of sound. Sound is defined by wordreference as the sensation produced by vibrations that stimulate the nerves of the ear and can be heard or the particular effect produced by a certain source on one's hearing, so if there's no one near to interpretate the vibrations produced by the falling of the tree as sound there's no sound.
Last Edit: Nov 16, 2015 9:52:42 GMT -5 by santijas