Physics and Philosophy Part II

Here is another quote from my physics textbook that affected me in a very different way:

Have you ever heard the philosopher's question, "If a tree falls in a forest but no one is

around to hear it, does it make a sound?" To a physicist, this question poses no dilemma.

The tree does cause a longitudinal wave to be produced in the air when it falls, but until

that wave hits an ear drum, there is no sound. Thus, if there really isn't an ear around to

pick up the longitudinal wave, there really is not a sound.

Now, I don't think this quote states that our senses decieve us. It does go on to say that what we call sound is merely electrical impulses sent to the brain, but this point is purely semantics. From a physicist's point of view, the clumps of air sent through space that vibrate our eardrums is not sound, but merely what causes sound. So to "make sound" is to vibrate the eardrums which sends an electrical pattern to the brain which we then decode as the sound of a tree falling in the forest. So, if we define sound in that way (which is apparently the proper scientific definition of sound), trees that fall alone are not remembered. Or something like that.

In the words of Alex the Lion:

Dilemma solved! Good night.