If a Tree Falls in the Woods, Does It Make a Sound?

[Hosnon]

Sound is the result of molecular vibrations across a medium. The human eardrum reacts to such vibrations and translates them into what humans refer to as sound. A fallen tree causes such molecular vibrations. However, absent a human eardrum, or its functional equivalent - an animal eardrum or mechanical simulation - sound is not produced.

[Sal Minella]

1. Short answer :: physically, yes :: physiologically, no. .....eom.

[johnaries]

2. Completely misses the point. It's a meditation exercise.

At the time the question originated, no one knew about or understood sound waves. It's one of many "questions without answers" like "what is the sound of one hand clapping".

It's a technique to aid in meditation. It's not supposed to have an answer, it's just to give your concious mind something to concentrate on to allow your subconcious mind to come to the surface. Like "how big is big?"

[catnhatnh]

3. Or..."If God is all Powerful...

...can he make a rock so big that even He can't move it?"

[Alacrat]

4. you beat me to it

[catnhatnh]

5. Or "How many Pinheads....

can dance on an angel?"

[Liberal In Texas]

6. I think it's, "How many angels can dance on a pinhead." n/t

[uppityperson]

8. go the repub convention, or freeper convention and count

[uppityperson]

7. She

[fishwax]

10. or could he microwave a burrito so hot that even he couldn't eat it?

[Sal Minella]

12. woops. Didn't realize I'd wandered into a meditation class, 'scuze me.

[AndyTiedye]

9. The Sound of Me Cursing a Bit and Starting Up the Generator

If a tree falls in the woods, it usually falls on the power lines to our house.

[sweetheart]

11. With a cracking and a thunderous resound..

..a tree falls in the mind;
forced to contemplate ALL the trees, all the sounds of an interconnected and
complex world, where no event is separate.

So the question reduces to: Why do you care about an event not in
your immediate sphere; Why do you care about a flood in bengal, or a war
in iraq, as by simply burning the newspaper and sledhammering the TV, the
war will go away and leave you on your bum, without any trees neither;
alive to the mystery of life, that things die all over the world every
moment of time, and we are poingnantly sad at the forever lost passing joy;
and forever joyful at the mystery of trees, falling in paragraphs
on internet terminals; proving that we're all just
numbers, 1's and zeros, and nothing has moved but the computer fan.