# If a tree falls in the forest.. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 1999, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527 "1999-09-21T14:38:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Palidors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9adbd/32.png) [@Palidors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palidors)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/1 "1999-09-21T14:38:00Z")
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around does it make a sound??? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/2 "1999-09-21T14:48:00Z")
Yes ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/3 "1999-09-21T14:54:00Z")
Hold on. My “Zen Enlightenment for Dummies” book isn’t in the office. I know that it has the correct answers to all the koans. ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/4 "1999-09-21T14:55:00Z")
There are always trolls in the forest to hear it. But I’m sure you knew that. * * * I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![TheIncredibleHolg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@TheIncredibleHolg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheIncredibleHolg)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/5 "1999-09-21T14:56:00Z")
If a man speaks out in the forest and his wife is not around to correct him, is he still wrong? ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/6 "1999-09-21T15:12:00Z")
No. When the tree falls, it produces sound waves, not sound. The waves travel to the inner ear, where the vibrations produce minute electrical signals that are perceived by a brain as sound. There is no sound without an auditory mechanism present. ## Even I knew that. If you’re an optimist, you haven’t been paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/7 "1999-09-21T15:21:00Z")
But Wally - Aren’t sound waves waves of sound? * * * Yer pal, Satan ---
**Author:** ![Pickman\_s\_Model](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Pickman\_s\_Model](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pickman_s_Model)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/8 "1999-09-21T15:32:00Z")
What is the sound of one lung collapsing? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/9 "1999-09-21T15:44:00Z")
Buzzer! InCorrect WallyM7! A deaf person, say like me?, could not hear the tree fall, but would see it fall, thus, the tree did fall.duh. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 1999, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/10 "1999-09-22T05:24:00Z")
Trick question. If nobody is around to hear it, or witness it in any way, then it doesn’t fall. What happens is that the wave function collapses to the fallen state when the first witness happens by. ---
**Author:** ![DW3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@DW3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DW3)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 1999, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/11 "1999-09-22T05:31:00Z")
You’re now stepping into SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT area of philosophy. I guess the OP did that too. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 1999, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/12 "1999-09-22T05:32:00Z")
it exists only as a cloud of probabilities… no, wait, that’s Schroedinger’s cat. blert. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 1999, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/13 "1999-09-22T05:34:00Z")
dammit, DW3, you got to it first. drat! ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 1999, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/14 "1999-09-22T05:35:00Z")
What did you do to the cat? It looks half dead… ---
**Author:** ![Jorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@Jorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorge)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 1999, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/15 "1999-09-22T05:37:00Z")
- - ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/16 "1999-09-21T18:00:00Z")
Jorge: Good point! I didn’t think of that until you mentioned it! ---
**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/17 "1999-09-21T18:08:00Z")
Oh, Oh, I’ve got one! How many trolls does it take to clog up a message board? I hate, really _hate_ to agree with satan, but you’re right man…troll. For a member who lists occupation as oracle, and interests as quantum physics, this guy sure asks stupid questions. Probably in the same afterschool program as Brithael, and Banshee. ---
**Author:** ![Pete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Pete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pete)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/18 "1999-09-21T18:18:00Z")
Are we assuming that there is nothing else in the universe except this tree? If so, then it doesn’t make a sound. But if there is anything else that hears, then it does. I suppose I’m just reverberating (haha) what Wally said, but I am adding that other organisms hear. Also, I fancy that other plants and microorganisms “hear” even though they don’t pick up sound waves. * * * I don’t know who first said “everyone’s a critic,” but I think it’s a really stupid saying. ---
**Author:** ![DW3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@DW3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DW3)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/19 "1999-09-21T18:32:00Z")
OK Pile on like the BK commercial. You would think he would ask questions like “how do you go about proving virtual particles?” or “how do gravitrons attract?” if his interest really is Quantum Physics. But Jorge said it better than I can 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527/20 "1999-09-21T18:35:00Z")
While we’re on the Zen kick, the sound of one hand clapping sounds like this… [slaps Palidors] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-tree-falls-in-the-forest/3527.md?page=2)