if a tree falls in the woods and no ones around does it make a sound?
344331
Yes, it makes a sound....but no one is around to hear the sound being made.
11380
It certainly makes sound. But, there is nobody to notice his sound. Sound is also a kind of energy. Whether someone noticed or not, it can not be destroyed.
282828
This question has been asked forever and been the subject of debate. I think the question is worded incorrectly. If a tree falls, it makes a sound. That's a law of nature. The question is did it really fall if no-one was around to see or hear it.
26068
DOES A BEAR - - - -  IN THE WOODS?
835078
No.  Reality is what we perceive it to be.  Absolutes do not exist.  Without perception, therefore, reality does not exist.  And hence, a tree falling with no one to hear, makes no sound.
290448
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary sound is defined as, "1 a : a particular auditory impression : TONE b : the sensation perceived by the sense of hearing c : mechanical radiant energy that is transmitted by longitudinal pressure waves in a material medium (as air) and is the objective cause of hearing." According to this definition the sound MUST be perceived, therefore, if no one is around, the tree DOES NOT make a sound.
588882
sound (countable and uncountable; plural: sounds)\n\nA sensation perceived by the ear caused by the vibration of air or some other medium. (He turned when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.) \n\nThat is the definition of sound so if there is no ear with which to vibrate than that tree does not cause any sound. The falling does create the potential for sound, but until the vibrating air hits an eardrum there is no sound
597161
Great philosophical question! \n\nI tend to think of it like this:\nIf a person's life is only affected by his or her actions and the actions of people and occurences that are directly relevant to that person's life then the "tree" doesn't make a sound. \nBut then we've all heard of the "Butterfly effect"; in which case the "tree" would sound like an explosion occuring next to you.......
618883
Yes it makes noise but No there is no way to prove that it does...can we move on now PLEASE?
564702
Put it on yourself! If you fall and there is no one see's you, does make a sound? Then how do we know?
1004921
Sound is a sense. The tree's fall causes vibrations, but, unless something is around to interpret those vibrations as sound, it is never "heard."
707707
Yes, unless of course the tree thinks "if nobody is going to hear me then I will fall quietly so as not to disturb the wildlife".
79096
No!Because you can not tell . how if there would be nobody nobody could near the noise!
435287
There is thunder, you just are too far away to hear it. Now here's one for you; if a tree falls in the forest....
61353
NO IT DOES NOT MAKE A SOUND!\n\nto have a sound you need 3 things\n\na source to produce sound waves in a medium\n\na medium for the sound waves to pass through\n\nand a reciever to detect the sound waves\n\n\ntherefor if you have noe reciever to recieve the sound waves there is no sound.\n\nand MR Um?  i'm sorry but trees do not act as a RECIEVER for sound they in this case would act merely as an attenuation ow the sound due to reflection, scattering, and absorbtion.\n\nYOU DO NOT WANT TO ARGUE WITH AN ACOUSTIC ENGINEER WHEN IT COMES TO TALKING ABOUT SOUND!
52736
This is essentially a question of definitions, i.e. how you define sound or noise. \n\nHere are the two basic answers. \n\nYes \n\nA noise is a sound and a sound is a set of vibrating molecules referred to as sound waves. If a tree falls in the forest and makes a sound, it makes molecular vibrations, or sound waves, whether any human ear drum is around to sense them or not. So yes, it makes a noise. A person hearing it is irrelevant to the being of the sound. A person hearing it is only relevant to human consciousness of the sound. \n\nAnother argument for this viewpoint is based on theology. God observes the entire universe. \n\nNo \n\nIf a tree falls, and no one is around to hear it, it does not make a noise by definition. What is noise? What is sound? One must make sure to look at this question not from such a skewed view point to realize that he or she is being misled. From an early stage in our lives, through modern science, it is FACT that sound waves are processed in our brains, thus if we are not near the sound it is just an assumption that it does make a noise. \n\nSound travels through our ears, into the canal, and into the brain to allow for it to be processed by the brain, allowing for us to differentiate due to experiences that yes, it is that particular noise. However, one would not know the sound to be that way if they cannot imagine the situation. Thus, a human being or another entity must be present to absorb the vibrations, waves, etc in order to process the information. \n\nSome take this further and claim that the whole universe does not really exist until it is observed.
65418
In the vast universe of cause and effect, yes, the tree does make a sound. It makes a sound that is heard down to the Earth's core to the vast reaches of space and into the eardrum of a snarkvorce, which is to say a creature capable of transmitting waves into melodies that in turn, turn into frequencies that can only be decifered once someone goes through a black hole and into another dimension.