Thursday, December 13, 2007

A fresh twist on a classic

You know the old saying "If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

From a very young age, I've always thought this saying was BS. Of course it makes a sound! Sound waves are made up of vibrations, duh. This is simple physics.

I think a much better angle would be to say "If the swamp belches up gas, and no one is there to sniff it, does it make a smell?" since smell is a perception, and sound waves are not.

1 comment:

  1. But isn't sound also a perception? Without an ear to hear it, isn't that sound just pressure waves in the air?

    For me the worst one was "What is the sound of one hand clapping".

    Isn't one hand clapping basically a wave?

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