[quote="Animal Mother":caef5]But how does anybody know?[/quote:caef5]

thats not the question if anybody knows about it . if i dropped a book on the table, it would make a smack noise. if the same book fell off of a high shelf on its own, while the house was empty and no one was around , it would still make a smack noise. same principle with the tree.

[quote=JBird]thats not the question if anybody knows about it . if i dropped a book on the table, it would make a smack noise. if the same book fell off of a high shelf on its own, while the house was empty and no one was around , it would still make a smack noise. same principle with the tree.[/quote:0bc31]
it IS a question about knowing.... that's the whole point of the question. If no one is around, we can't KNOW it makes a noise. We can only assume because whenever we are around when the tree falls, we hear it. Perhaps the act of observing causes a change in the observed... but don't get me wrong... i do think the trees make plenty of noise when we're not around.

On a similar subject, check out this breakthrough discovery my roommate came up with (i helped him perfect it) [url:0bc31]http://filebox.vt.edu/users/kdise/Archives/trees.htm[/url:0bc31]

Wheres teh funnae?

yes thay do..thay point and laugh and mock it...

but the real question is ...

if a tree falls in the forest...and hits a mime...does aneyone care?

[img]http://filebox.vt.edu/users/bwolf/MOHStats/mime.jpg[/img]

rock: got to love teh pics.

[img]http://www.boomspeed.com/vercat/1acc.gif[/img]

that was by far the stupidest website i have ever seen bwolf, trees dont mate, they just drop seeds...

and for the religious thing...

it all started when man made god in his image...

[quote="Falco*":e4a57]that was by far the stupidest website i have ever seen bwolf, trees dont mate, they just drop seeds...

and for the religious thing...

it all started when man made god in his image...[/quote:e4a57]
TREES DON'T MATE!?!?!?!? But the proof was ll there! Crap... my roommate was hoping for a Nobel prize. well thanks for the news Falco, i'll break it to him. Glad you liked the site eatthis:

You know you could just leave a tape recorder in the forest and find out.......

[quote="{TRC}ZenMaster":76ca9]You know you could just leave a tape recorder in the forest and find out.......[/quote:76ca9]

But by the arguements here, it wouldnt make a sound until a human heard it. The basic premise behind the falling tree, is it doesnt exist if a human doesnt here it. A deer could hear it, but that doesnt count right? The sound wave could make a leaf on another tree fall, but since we didnt hear it, it didnt happen? Its arrogance to suggest an event doesnt happen because we werent there to witness it.

[quote=pest]But by the arguements here, it wouldnt make a sound until a human heard it. The basic premise behind the falling tree, is it doesnt exist if a human doesnt here it. A deer could hear it, but that doesnt count right? The sound wave could make a leaf on another tree fall, but since we didnt hear it, it didnt happen? Its arrogance to suggest an event doesnt happen because we werent there to witness it.[/quote:868cd]

exactly. so, back before humans existed, dinosaurs made no sounds? lol i think this proverb has always been ridiculous. i remember in highschool one of my teachers told it to my class and we were supposed to come up with some philosophical answer. i remember just laughing. freak:

[quote=pest]But by the arguements here, it wouldnt make a sound until a human heard it. The basic premise behind the falling tree, is it doesnt exist if a human doesnt here it. A deer could hear it, but that doesnt count right? The sound wave could make a leaf on another tree fall, but since we didnt hear it, it didnt happen? Its arrogance to suggest an event doesnt happen because we werent there to witness it.[/quote:3ab60]
this is my take: the proverb doesn't suggest it doesn't happen. it asks if it makes a sound if it wasn't there. in order to answer the question, we would have to KNOW the answer, and in order to KNOW the answer, one would have to be there to find out, at least when this proverb was first said. but now we can just use a tape recorder to find out, like zenmaster said. Bascially it is about knowledge and what can we actually know about an event that no one is around to see? We can only assume that the same thing always happens, even when no one is around.

heh i know i know, i have always known the deep philosophical meaning about it. i know its about knowledge and all. i took 2 philosphy courses in college so far. i just have always thought it was silly. freak: