IF A TREE FALLS IN THE WOODS... putting an end to the age-old question
#1
Posted 02 March 2007 - 04:21 PM
#2
Posted 02 March 2007 - 04:28 PM
"It is a profound and necessary truth that the deep things in science are not found because they are useful; they are found because it was possible to find them." - J. Robert Oppenheimer; Scientific Director; The Manhattan Project
"talking bullsh*t is not a victimless crime" - Marina Hyde, author.
#3
Posted 02 March 2007 - 04:34 PM
Quote
#4
Posted 02 March 2007 - 04:40 PM
"It is a profound and necessary truth that the deep things in science are not found because they are useful; they are found because it was possible to find them." - J. Robert Oppenheimer; Scientific Director; The Manhattan Project
"talking bullsh*t is not a victimless crime" - Marina Hyde, author.
#5
Posted 02 March 2007 - 05:11 PM
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I agree, the sound waves are created even if no one is there to hear them...

"Its one thing to have an open mind, and quite another to live in a fantasy reality. Not everything is possible." ~ lil gremlin
#6
Posted 02 March 2007 - 05:38 PM
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Yeah. Try explaining this to other people at school. Just dont try. It took half an hour.
I was going to say the same as PU and Leonardo, but you both beat me to it
#7
Posted 02 March 2007 - 05:52 PM
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I'm with Leo. Sound is generated whether someone is there to hear it or not. But I think we are also basically arguing about the definition of a word, is the word sound only properly used when referring to those vibrations which actually reach the human ear, or is it proper to use it for any vibrations which have the potential to be perceived by the human ear?
--Timothy Keller The Reason for God
#8
Posted 02 March 2007 - 06:03 PM
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Good point, Iams.
I was using 'sound' as from physics where it is the wave energy propagated through a medium. As to whether it should be hearable by us should we then exclude ultra sound or subsonics? I think any sound energy should be included if we have the means to detect it whether we can hear it naturally or not.
"It is a profound and necessary truth that the deep things in science are not found because they are useful; they are found because it was possible to find them." - J. Robert Oppenheimer; Scientific Director; The Manhattan Project
"talking bullsh*t is not a victimless crime" - Marina Hyde, author.
#9
Posted 02 March 2007 - 08:35 PM
There is a major problem with your definition of sound however. It's OK
to put this in a human perspective for most purposes but there are excep-
tions. For instance an avalanche can be triggered by sound and then bury
and kill hundreds of people. Did the falling tree which triggered it make a
sound? I would say that a better definition of sound would not include any
type or species of ear.
And if anyone asks, the egg came first because being hatched is a defining
characteristic of being a chicken. The egg was laid by a chicken-like animal.
#10
Posted 02 March 2007 - 08:41 PM
and interrelated place. A butterfly flapping it's wings in China causes
a hurricane a week later in Haiti. The falling tree scurries animals and
sets in motion vast changes which dramatically affect all life on Earth
over time.
Why wouldn't it make a sound as well?
#11
Posted 04 March 2007 - 04:52 AM
#13
Posted 04 March 2007 - 04:56 AM
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No, it makes sound waves that could be interpreted into some sound or noise, but if no once/thing is around to hear it, it just produces the waves.
--H.P. Lovecraft
In the absence of willpower the most complete collection of virtues and talents is wholly worthless.
--Aleister Crowley
#15
Posted 04 March 2007 - 06:15 AM
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Now we're left with doing a census of what's in the area. Is a man who's
sleeping or in a coma capable of hearing sound. What if it wakes him up
and he's not sure if he heard it or not. What about animals? Why can't
they hear sounds?
Words are for communication and communication is easier if words have
as definite as possible definitions. Why introduce complicating factors.
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