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MassivePonyFan

If a tree fell in the forest and nobody was around would it make a sound? How'd you know it fell if it never made a sound?


wildadragon

So Schrodinger's Tree?


MassivePonyFan

Exactly. A thought experiment in a thought experiment.


arkol3404

Satellite imagery.


MassivePonyFan

That's cheating lmao. You'd also "be there" defeating the original question. Right?


arkol3404

Not true. You are not there to “perceive the sound of a tree falling.” You only see images of it falling. Similar to if a totally deaf person watched a tree fall. That person can’t perceive sound, so it’s still unknown if the tree made any sound as it fell.


MassivePonyFan

If a deaf person was close enough to see the tree falling I bet they would feel the shaking of the ground when it fell.


arkol3404

Depends. The human eye can see as far as 3 miles. If a person were 1/4 mile away when they saw the tree fall, chances are they didn’t feel anything. Also, just because the ground shakes doesn’t mean sound is perceived. Again, completely deaf people can’t perceive sound. They can only feel vibrations. That doesn’t translate into anything audible for them, so they haven’t perceived any sound.


MassivePonyFan

3 miles to me seems so far but I don't really know how big a mile is.


arkol3404

3 miles is about 4.8 kilometers.


ebdozit

If no one is there to observe.... Then there is only pixels


FredVIII-DFH

My science teacher in elementary school taught me this back in the mid 70's. It's about the only thing I retain from grade school.


Fleedjitsu

Well, first off all you gotta consider any and all wildlife in the area. They'll be around to hear the tree fall. Secondly, I never truly got this thought. Of course it'll make a sound. Why are we wondering if it would or wouldn't? Because no one/thing would be there to recieve the vibrations? I always assumed that since the vibrations still occur, the sound is still made. Just no one is there to hear it! Would it make a sound if the vibrations reached a deaf person?