If a tree falls in the woods...

Glenn's Take

Heisman
May 20, 2012
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NO!!!!!! It makes waves that things with eardrums pick up and interpret into sound but if nothing around can do that then it doesn't make sound. Prove me wrong!!!
 

Ahnan E. Muss

All-Conference
Nov 13, 2003
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The answer is simple: It depends on which definition of sound one uses.

Definition of "sound"

noun
1. the sensation produced by stimulation of the organs of hearing by vibrations transmitted through the air or other medium.

2. mechanical vibrations transmitted through an elastic medium, traveling in air at a speed of approximately 1,087 feet (331 meters) per second at sea level.



If you use the first definition, the physiological definition in which a hearing being is required, the answer is no.

If you use the second definition, the physical definition in which a hearing being is not required, the answer is yes.
 

Glenn's Take

Heisman
May 20, 2012
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So no. If nothing is there to receive the waves than there is no sound. That's what I always thought.
 

mdlUK.1

Heisman
Dec 23, 2002
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What If I’m standing next to a deaf person? There’s a sound that I can hear but they can’t. What then?
 
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Glenn's Take

Heisman
May 20, 2012
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If a bear ***** in the woods and no one is there to smell it, does it still stink? ;-)
No, the bear was there to smell it. (Unless he had covid and lost their sense of smell).
"If the moon was made out of cheese, would you eat it"?


Yes, but has nothing to do with sound.
What If I’m standing next to a deaf person? There’s a sound that I can hear but they can’t. What then?
Then it made sound because there was someone there to interpret it.
 

Nubb16

Heisman
Jun 30, 2005
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Xception

Heisman
Apr 17, 2007
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A recording device will pick up the sound, so the fallen tree does still make a sound despite nobody being there. A eardrum receives sound but doesn’t create it, the recording proves the lack of an eardrum doesn’t eliminate sound.
 

Glenn's Take

Heisman
May 20, 2012
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A recording device will pick up the sound, so the fallen tree does still make a sound despite nobody being there. A eardrum receives sound but doesn’t create it, the recording proves the lack of an eardrum doesn’t eliminate sound.
There are no recording devices in the middle of Siberia.