Philosopher's Haze

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“If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does the tree still make a sound?”

This question seems to be used in an almost rhetorical manner whenever someone wants to express a sentiment of sheer bewilderment, as if this were being asked instead of simply saying “I have no idea.” But this is a relatively straight-forward question to answer. One needs to think about what happens when a tree falls. The trunk of the tree begins to snap, pieces of wood fly off in various directions. The tree begins to lean; its own height and mass begin to work against it and the tree falls over, smashing down upon whatever lies beneath it. Read the rest of this entry →