heres a nice philosophical question that when i first heard it. i thought it was as pretty basic and easy question to answer. but then the next day i remembered it and spent a few minutes thinking about it, and it isnt all that straightforward:

if a stick falls out of a tree in the middle of a forest, but nobody, no human, bird or anything alive is around to witness it or hear it. no living thing is aware that its fallen. :did it even happen?

i know its sounds a bit dumb when you say it. but if you think about it a little, it is a pretty good question

yes, it did happen, cos you have just put 'if it did happen and no-one was around to see it happen'.

So by the very nature of the question, it did happen, it is just that no-one saw it.

yup that about answers it...

I´t fell...becouse it makes a difference in the future...it plays it´s part.
Important or not, it still does.

If a robot took into an abandoned cellar, took a knife and gutted you completely until your torturous screams fade to nothing more than a faint gurgle, but nobody was around to hear you screams, did you really die? I'm afraid so.

(I say robot because if it were a person, then it would mean someone was there to witness the act and hear the screams)

I heard this one in a somewhat other version.

If a tree fell down in a forest, and no one or nothing was there to hear it fall... Did it make a sound?

When does the sound become a sound at all? As soon as the air vibrates? Or only as soon the vibrating air reaches someones or somethings ear?

Of course it did make a sound even if no one heard it, becouse sound also effects it´s surroundings.

Tree fell, the sound made the small stick fall out of its tree, the stick kept a branch rolling down the hill, and Homer came along and used the branch to bbc hotdogs.

Sound is vibration of the air, but okay.

This is a rare situation where the answer could be either yes or no, and although both answers are complete opposites, both are true, depending on your definition of the word 'sound'.
When looking up 'sound' in any dictionary, it gives you multiple examples and definitions of what sound means. For example, dictionary.com has 24 entries for 'sound'. Entry 1a states that sound only needs to be capable of being heard. However, entry 1c states that sound is stimulation in the hearing organs. So whether you answer yes or no, you are correct, depending on which definition of sound you use.

Here's another scenario:
If a tree falls in the forest, and there's no one there to hear it, but there's a tape player recording the event, is there sound?

Another scenario:
A sound activated tape recorder is placed in a forest. A tree falls onto the tape recorder, destroying the tape. Someone comes along and notes that the tape is unsalvageable, but that the tape counter has advanced. So the recorder is activated by sound, and that the tape counter advanced. Did it make a sound?

uh yeah - for every action there is an equal and oposite reaction thig

Phantom, thats fair enough. Whether it be a living creature or a machine which can record sounds. As stated, whether you answer yes or no, you are correct, depending on which definition of 'sound' you use.

Exeter - thanks for the input...