Does it Make a Sound?

2. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around, does it make a sound?

This is allegedly one of the great mysteries in life, but is it really a mystery? In this brief article I shall explore this question, and attempt to answer it.

To start this, we must ask ourselves exactly what sound is. It is a wave, is it not? And no, I don’t mean a wave as in the ones that you surf on at the beach (be it body or board). I mean sound waves. These are invisible and they reach your ears and vibrate your eardrums, which then transfers what you perceive the sound to be into your brain, which then try’s to recognise it and there we are. You have your sound. It’s a complicated process.

Now the tree falls in the forest, and there is no one there. The sound waves are still made, but they don’t enter the ear, and so the sound is not perceived as such. So, it really depends upon one’s definition of sound. Is sound, to you, the hearing of it, or the waves made?

There’s also another element to take on board. If no one is there to witness the tree falling, how can you really be sure it’s happened? Also, what about all those poor little animals that lived in the tree? And the ones that got smusched? Ah, the humanity! Surely they heard the sound? Don’t they count? If they don’t then you’re an animacist! Just because they’re different to us doesn’t mean that they don’t count! Sheesh! Anyways, *ahem.

In conclusion, the question really is: Do you consider ‘sound’ as the hearing of it, or the making of it?
Since the original question said ‘does it make a sound’, then I’d have to say that yes, it does. And so the mystery is solved.