If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it really make a sound?

Question

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it really make a sound?

Answer 1

I needed to get this out:

"If I shout 'I' at the heart of the world, and no one hears me, does it matter?"

What that question is is that of existence, not of logic. Kind of a paradox, if you will. Let's look at it this way:

The world was created by mankind. The world itself is desolate if it is not acknowledged by man. A species of animal never discovered does not exist if it's existence is not acknowledged. The universe would not exist if not seen by man. I exist, am heard, therefore I am.

Sound a little self-centered? Yes, but that's the root of the question. If we do not know about something, does it exist? If a boat sinks in the ocean and no survivors are around to tell the tale, has it ever happened? Would events in history exist if they were not written down and remembered?

And another quote:

"To see something is to acknowledge it's existence. Once that has happened it is recognized, therefore it now exists."

Things that we have no knowledge of happen all the time. Yet if no one witnessed these events, did they truthfully happen? If an animal species that is undiscovered dies out, then have they truly existed?

That is the tree question. If a tree falls and man did not hear it, therefore did not recognize it's existence, did it make a sound? No, because if it's existence is not recognized then it is not remembered. Events can occur, but if no one is there to witness them they did not happen.

However, this question has been around for quite a while. I think the tree that didn't make a sound is forever remembered, then.

Answer 2

this question has been answered numerous times already. please refer to previous answers.

the short answer is yes and no.

Answer 3

If someone punches you in the face when you're not looking, will it still hurt?

Answer 4

...if there ...YES...

...not there...NO!!!

Answer 5

Yes, but it does not make a noise.

Sound is objective, it is a wave of air and that wave can influence other things (say the flight of a butterfly) which can in turn influence still other things, and infinite pattern deriving from a single source.

A noise, however, is subjective and whether something is or is not noisy is entirely at the descretion of the listener.  No listener, no decision, no noise.

Answer 6

If the bible says so.

Answer 7

Yes.  You just weren't near it to hear it!

Answer 8

Reality requires no witnesses.

Answer 9

This question is not supposed to be literal.

The point is if it isn't heard, does it matter?

If it effects no one or nothing else, did it happen?

Answer 10

Yes it does, whether you hear it or not, whether it affects anyone or not, whether it is recorded or not, or even if a human being never ever finds the fallen tree it still makes a sound.

It has to, it lives on the same planet you and I and all the other animals with any sense of hearing. We hear because we are in an atmosphere that allows sound to travel regardless of who or what hears it. We know this happens because when you mother tells you to do something you "hear her". If you can hear her on this planet it's because of the atmosphere we have that actually allows sounds to be made, and travel. If that works where we are then you can be sure that it will work in the uninhabited part of the world as well.

Answer 11

if you weren't there to see it fall how do know it fell? One can only assume it made a sound as it fell as one assumes that a tree lying on the forest floor got there by falling.