A tree falls in a forest...

[Jhaalu]

...And nobody is around to hear it. Does it make a sound?

Of course, we know now that it would make a sound wave, but without an ear to percieve it it wouldn't make a "noise". This is because "noises" are merely our ears transducing vibrations in the air into signals to be sent to our brains.

This got me thinking, the same could be said for every other sense that we have. Sight is just the transmission of light into your brain, etc. So if everything we experience (and i mean everything) is simply a perception, what is the computer screen you are staring at? what is the chair you are sitting in? What is that music you are hearing? What would it be without anyone to percieve it? Its impossible to imagine.

EDIT: there seems to be alot of misunderstandings to the question i was putting forward. I think Neichus worded it much better than me with the following quote.

"We perceive the world. The world exists without our perception, yet our perception is what makes up this world for us. Therefore, what is the world like if not perceived?"

[herpecin]

larger question, does the forest even exist if no one is around to see it exist?

[Neichus]

I think your last paragraph is full of very good questions to which I don't believe we have the answers to.

[Homies]

smaller question, if your special boy parts are too small to see do they exist?

[Badpaladin]

Considering sound is just gas particles bouncing around (HUGE simplification, I know), yes it makes a sound. The question should be, "does it matter if it made a sound", because my answer would be "no". If nobody is around to hear it, the sound is worthless.

[Deleted]

sound is vibrations in the air, that's what it is and what it would be if we couldn't hear. sight on the other hand, well I suppose it would still be there, considering you can still feel it, but when you take that out, well I suppose humans might aswell be a rock instead of a human if it wasn't for senses.

Considering sound is just gas particles bouncing around (HUGE simplification, I know), yes it makes a sound. The question should be, "does it matter if it made a sound", because my answer would be "no". If nobody is around to hear it, the sound is worthless.

PS: what happened to your goat/lama/etc. Avatar? It always made me smile :'S

[Jhaalu]

Considering sound is just gas particles bouncing around (HUGE simplification, I know), yes it makes a sound. The question should be, "does it matter if it made a sound", because my answer would be "no". If nobody is around to hear it, the sound is worthless.

The "tree falls in a forest" thing was a metophor to help make my point. I'm not asking if it makes a sound or not.

[Noomz]

Considering sound is just gas particles bouncing around (HUGE simplification, I know), yes it makes a sound. The question should be, "does it matter if it made a sound", because my answer would be "no". If nobody is around to hear it, the sound is worthless.

Sounds don't happen because of the sound wanting to be heard, it's a result of many things, and it just happens.

[-Zait-]

To much weed my friend :3

OT: Ask yourself how a blind person perceives the world then

[Jhaalu]

sound is vibrations in the air, that's what it is and what it would be if we couldn't hear. sight on the other hand, well I suppose it would still be there, considering you can still feel it, but when you take that out, well I suppose humans might aswell be a rock instead of a human if it wasn't for senses.

But what is air? or vibrations? We know what it "looks" like, feels like, etc. but if humans never existed to percieve it what would it be?

[Noomz]

...And nobody is around to hear it. Does it make a sound?

Of course, we know now that it would make a sound wave, but without an ear to percieve it it wouldn't make a "noise". This is because "noises" are merely our ears transducing vibrations in the air into signals to be sent to our brains.

This got me thinking, the same could be said for every other sense that we have. Sight is just the transmission of light into your brain, etc. So if everything we experience (and i mean everything) is simply a perception, what is the computer screen you are staring at? what is the chair you are sitting in? What is that music you are hearing? What would it be without anyone to percieve it? Its impossible to imagine.

On the last part of your post, I'd have to say it'd be just as it is now.
Humans aren't special, we aren't here so things can be seen and heard. Lots of things see, hear and sense, some in very different ways to us.

Everything around you, even you yourself, is made up out of atoms. But here's the funny part: Atoms are mostly empty space. The distance between the nucleus, protons, neutrons and electrons is compareable to golfballs on different sides of a football stadium.

Ofcourse, forces like magnetism (how do they work?! Honestly though, magnetism is quite complicated) come into play.
Science, it messes with your head and then explains how it works!

[Rukah]

I'll bite.

The falling tree would make a sound. However no-one would know because there isn't anyone around to hear it.

[Noomz]

But what is air? or vibrations? We know what it "looks" like, feels like, etc. but if humans never existed to percieve it what would it be?

Air is particles of nitrogen and oxygen that our bodies need to function.

Everything is something, even things that you cannot percieve with the naked eye. EVERYTHING is something.

Light for example, is what enables us to see anything at all. Light is waves bouncing off of objects, thusly showing their shapes to us. Different colors are seen depending on what light and particles surfaces reflect or absorb.

All of these things would still be what they are. We are completely inconsequential to their excistance, we merely live because of them not the other way around my friend.

Science, heck yes!

[Badpaladin]

The "tree falls in a forest" thing was a metophor to help make my point. I'm not asking if it makes a sound or not.

Yeah, that's why I think it's worthless, or in other words, nothing. What good is a sound that you can't hear? No good at all. If we can't percieve it, how do we know it's even there? In this physical universe it's entirely possible for a tree falling to not make a sound, but the liklihood of that is so immeasurably little that it's safe to say it would make a sound, but how do we know that? We weren't there to hear it.

[Neichus]

To much weed my friend :3

OT: Ask yourself how a blind person perceives the world then

It's hardly "too much weed." It's a rather important philosophical question about the nature of the universe. Is perception merely letting the world "spill into" us, like we tend to think? Or is it a more complicated process whereby one cannot separate perception and the object that is being perceived? If my first response didn't make it obvious, I think the case at this point in time can be made for the latter given what we know. The question then is: why do we perceive the world the way it is if that isn't the way it actually is? Or, more problematically, what is the world without perception? I'll just end with one of my favorite quotes:

"Things are not as they appear, nor are they otherwise."

[apepi]

A sound is just a wave if no one hears it.

[Jhaalu]

On the last part of your post, I'd have to say it'd be just as it is now.
Humans aren't special, we aren't here so things can be seen and heard. Lots of things see, hear and sense, some in very different ways to us.

I know this. I'm aware that it would exist as it does now without us. I'm just saing that everything we know and experience in the universe is limited by our 6 senses. What if there are other senses that we don't have. What would the universe seem like with those senses?

[WeaponXAnimosity]

Should take a philosophy class. This is the stuff you have to sit for practically an hour, listening to the professor run circles around.

[Noomz]

Yeah, that's why I think it's worthless, or in other words, nothing. What good is a sound that you can't hear? No good at all. If we can't percieve it, how do we know it's even there? In this physical universe it's entirely possible for a tree falling to not make a sound, but the liklihood of that is so immeasurably little that it's safe to say it would make a sound, but how do we know that? We weren't there to hear it.

We know it through science.
Don't confuse excistance with perception.

[Kathoragen]

Yes we can.