this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2023
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It's probably โ 1 on my list of stupidest questions. The answer is yes.
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.
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.
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.
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.