If a tree falls in the wood.....

It's a question about the relationship between the world and our perception of it--does our perception determine the nature of the world or is it the other way around?

As you phrased it, that the tree did indeed fall was a premise, but the question she probably meant was "if a tree falls in the forsest and no one is around, does it make a sound?" If a sound is a mind-independent entity, it does; if sounds exist only in our minds, it doesn't. The argument is about what exactly sounds are and whether they exist independently of our perception of them. Some philosophers would say that nothing at all can exist without being percieved.

Reply 21

A level Az

16

Original post by TheCurlyHairedDude

If tree falls in the woods but you can't hear or see it falling, did it actually fall? A girl asked me this and my reply was....

Well of course, because if I go back their the tree will be lying on the floor... I don't get the argument here?

Someone explain to me?

Because if the tree falls it falls, no one has to see it..... Just like we know theirs wind, we can't see it though can we...

The real riddle is "If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

It is a question of sound, not sight, because obviously it would have fallen so you'd be able to see it later on, but the sound is only temporary, and so the answer depends on your definition of sound - is a sound only a sound once it reaches someone's ears, or is it a sound when something creates vibrations regardless of whether someone/something is there to recieve the noise.

Either way, it's a dumb question.

Reply 22

Unbiased Opinion

9

I thought the argument was to do with quantum physics and particles behaving differently when not observed... so if the tree wasn't being observed by anyone, how do we know it fell and the particles didn't just flit (without explanation cos dats quantum physics innit) onto the floor to form a lying down tree? The probability of that happening is insanely low but it's possible nonetheless.

Original post by Faustus Fotherby

It also doesn't happen to you everytime :wink:

stop lurking, if your not gonna post anything relevant gtfo

Reply 25

Joshyluky7

If it didnt fall in some way (pushed, knocked down etc) you wouldnt be asking this question in the first place lol

Reply 26

thunder_chunky

19

Original post by Broderss

Ask her if her daddy touches her at night, and no one tells her it's wrong, does she still get molested?

Inappropriate much?

Reply 27

jesusandtequila

12

Original post by Shippy

This is an odd one.... Maybe she got it mixed up with "if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound" :s-smilie:

Indeed, this is very strange since the falling is an act that happens objectively whether people are there to see it or not, while sound is merely how our brains interpret certain frequencies of vibrations in the air, and thus relies on the brain to make sound, just as the brain creates images from electrical impulses. One gets to the nature of perception, the other is a non-question.

Reply 28

AlexoEx0

Berkeley: "To be is to be perceived".

Yeah this topic or question was discussed in our philosophy class a while back, it basically introduces representative realism, and is based around "knowledge and the external world" unit.

Do we experience the world the way it is, or can we only build an idea of the external world in our heads through our own perception, which brings about the questions:

Can anyone see the world for how it truely is? (Plato and the cave analogy)
Is there even a world outside our own minds? (Solipsism)
Do things stop existing when we are not percieving them? (Berkeley)

Old thread. Someone wants to know my views on this?

Lol. That tree did fall in the wood, of course. :biggrin:

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Reply 31

Oldcon1953

9

Original post by JacobW

It's a question about the relationship between the world and our perception of it--does our perception determine the nature of the world or is it the other way around?

As you phrased it, that the tree did indeed fall was a premise, but the question she probably meant was "if a tree falls in the forsest and no one is around, does it make a sound?" If a sound is a mind-independent entity, it does; if sounds exist only in our minds, it doesn't. The argument is about what exactly sounds are and whether they exist independently of our perception of them. Some philosophers would say that nothing at all can exist without being percieved.