175
submitted 1 year ago by Grayox@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

Interesting article didnt know where it fit best so I wanted to share it here.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] AffineConnection@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Does a tree falling in the woods with nothing to hear it make a sound?

It's probably โ„– 1 on my list of stupidest questions. The answer is yes.

[-] CountZero@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Ah, but is a pressure wave propagating through air truly a sound if it does not interact with something that can hear? Or is it just the movement of air????

LoL, I'm sorry I couldn't help myself.

[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I mean, it's a pretty settled question, but I don't know if I'd say "stupid". How do you prove something you cannot ever measure exists? I think there's rough agreement that you can at least be very confident the sound does, although how exactly varies by school of thought.

[-] 0xD@infosec.pub 1 points 1 year ago

Not sure if I understood you correctly, but in that case you cannot measure the tree falling and therefore you would not be able to even ask or think of that question.

[-] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

So that's a point against it existing, but maybe you find the fallen tree later and ask if it was loud when it fell. Most people would agree a tree works the exact same way watched or not, though. There's different justifications why. Some people would say ontological momentum; I'd point to Occam's razor, which can be mathematically derived from Solomonoff calculus, and the laws of physics we have which can fit on a pamphlet and are supposed to apply anywhere at any time.

this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2023
175 points (84.9% liked)

Asklemmy

43958 readers
1205 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy ๐Ÿ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS