If a tree falls...

what happens if you hear a tree fall in a forest but nobody sees it?

 

:2thumbsup:

 

It happened, you saw it and heard it, so did the tree.

 

There would be physical sound-waves coming from the tree as it falls and hits the ground,just no one there to interpret the sound.

 

there isn't really a consensus on the definition of "sound" which makes it difficult, some say its the sound waves, some say that its the actual action of what happens in the ear etc etc

 

the exact meaning of what i said was the opposite of "you, me, or anyone else seeing it."

 

Nobody really discusses what the repercussions would be if it didn't make a sound. Is there anything that makes this physically impossible? Could the observer hypothetically be that significant, is what I am saying, even if you think it's unlikely. That would totally shift how powerful we know our brains to be, wouldn't it?

Or is it the same thing with the brain itself. You can see what a brain looks like when it's having thoughts now, so if no one is looking at it, is that what it looks like? Should we take this cognitive dissonance seriously?

 

All cognitive dissonance should be taken seriously lol.

 

great point neo you got me wondering a new question. if only a deaf person is in a forest and is looking right at a tree that falls does that tree make a sound?

 

What if this is a case of not seeing the forest for the trees? What if the question is designed to cause you to consider whether or not it is possible to for "no one" to be there?

 

not sure what you mean, of course its possible for no one to be there. and of course its possible for someone to be there.

maybe its asking if its the tree that is making the sound or is the tree silent but it is the ground that is making the noise when the tree falls.

 

Wouldn't it be the same as saying: "if you die and nobody knew, did you die?

 

i am pretty sure there was a comparison to Schrodinger's cat earlier in the thread. it would be very similar in its idea i think.

 

oooh what about if a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there, does it die?

 

if a tree falls on you and doesn't make a sound, do you die?

 

'almost had a tree fall on me once... Both the tree and I definitely made a sound.

 

If a duck makes a sound and no one is around to hear it, is it a quack?

 

Isn't the tree a witness of himself falling? Or maybe it doesn't count.
You are a conscious witness of what happens to you, do you need a witness. Same with the tree.

 

If the tree decided to really be awkward and deliberately stay standing,did it REALLY stay upright,or as there was no-one there to witness it,did it actually fall over?

 

It really happened a certain way, but you can only tell with uncertainties how exactly it happened since an there are an inrinirw numfw3 oe circumstances (cause) that c0uld leadto the same effect, h0w ever probabilily unlikly are still possible, and on a quantum level matter and energy behave randomly and cannot be observed without uncertAinty. So any set of causes that would have the same effect is equally as likely as any other.