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Community > Science & Philosophy

Topic: If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it does it ma
Midnight_Hawk Joined Sat 07/30/11 Posts: 436	Sat 07/30/11 04:37 PM
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it does it make a sound? An age old philosophical question which has always bugged me. Of course it does. However I've friends who still insist that for something to happen it has to be observed. Why is it that us humans place so much value on ourselves that there are those of us who believe that things haven't happened unless they have seen it?

Jeanniebean Joined Wed 01/30/08 Posts: 40028	Sat 07/30/11 05:51 PM
That is a metaphoric question, not a literal one about a tree in the forest. The question necessitates defining, on a quantum level, exactly what an event is and an observer is. Its about the awareness of being. What is sound if it can't be heard? What is light if it can't be seen? What is a vibration, if it can't be felt?

bastet126 Joined Fri 12/07/07 Posts: 15553	Sat 07/30/11 06:04 PM
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it does it make a sound? An age old philosophical question which has always bugged me. Of course it does. However I've friends who still insist that for something to happen it has to be observed. Why is it that us humans place so much value on ourselves that there are those of us who believe that things haven't happened unless they have seen it? i love that too. based on your friend's way of thinking the tree can't even fall without someone to see it, yet it lays on the forest floor. we are but visitors in a world existing all around us, whether we witness or not.

motowndowntown Joined Wed 11/19/08 Posts: 21869	Sat 07/30/11 06:14 PM
Some people believe that humans are the center of the universe.

Jeanniebean Joined Wed 01/30/08 Posts: 40028	Sat 07/30/11 06:46 PM
Some people believe that humans are the center of the universe. I am definitely the center of the universe from where I am looking.

Midnight_Hawk Joined Sat 07/30/11 Posts: 436	Sat 07/30/11 06:51 PM
Some people believe that humans are the center of the universe. I am definitely the center of the universe from where I am looking. Yep and your profile photo proves that!!! bastet126 I love your way of thinking.

jrbogie Joined Sat 03/01/08 Posts: 2490	Tue 08/02/11 02:03 PM Edited by jrbogie on Tue 08/02/11 02:08 PM


jrbogie Joined Sat 03/01/08 Posts: 2490	Tue 08/02/11 02:07 PM Edited by jrbogie on Tue 08/02/11 02:08 PM
nope. if nobody or no animal is there to hear it there is no sound. just movement of air. sound cannot happen without a working mechanism for hearing near enough to be affected by the movement of air. no hearing mechanism, no sound. no movement of air, no sound whether a human with a good ear is nearby or not. if you were standing a hundred feet from an appollo lander when it took off would you have heard it? if you fire a gun on the moon will it make a sound?

metalwing Joined Fri 11/14/08 Posts: 26218	Tue 08/02/11 02:17 PM
Some people believe that humans are the center of the universe. I am definitely the center of the universe from where I am looking. Yep and your profile photo proves that!!! bastet126 I love your way of thinking. I think anyone who knows her loves her way of thinking.

Community > Science & Philosophy