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Does the tree make a sound?
Yes 3 (75%)
No 1 (25%)
Total Votes: 4
A Rhetorical Question
Topic Started: Jul 20 2007, 08:20 PM (167 Views)
Jemascola
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Administrator
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If a tree falls and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

My answer would be no. Even though the tree would actually make sound regardless of whether or not someone was present, it wouldn't make a sound because nobody would hear it. People hear sounds, and if nobody heard the sound the tree made, then it wouldn't make a sound using that logic.
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crm507
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I guess that depends on how technical you want to be about the definition of "sound". It would make sound waves regardless of whether or not anyone was present. However, if no one was around to perceive the sound, then I'm not entirely certain if the sound waves made by the falling tree would qualify as sound.

Here's a somewhat similar question to consider. Do extremely high and low frequency vibrations that cannot be perceived by humans qualify as sound? If a dog hears something that a person cannot hear, does it qualify as sound from the perspective of that person?

I really do not know. I realize that this is an unimportant question, though, so I'll choose an answer. Just for the sake of disagreeing with you, I'll say yes.
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NarutoGlomper
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I think it does! LOL I love questions like these!
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Mike
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Yes it does. The sound wave is there regardless of whether it hits your ear drum and it perceived by your brain or not. The question is akin to asking whether or not an image is there without being witnessed by anyones eyes. Yes it would. The image is made of light waves and the sound is made of sound waves.
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