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How do you know if a tree that fell in the forest made a sound? (lemmy.world)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

28 comments fedilink hide all child comments

You check the crash logs

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Is tinnitus a sound?

Is bone conduction sound?

Are the signals a cochlear implant produce sound?

Sound is a perception. Sound waves are what can generate that perception. But sound doesn't always require soundwaves, so there is a difference.

It's very much a "dancing on the head of a pin" distinction, but the baseline joke also requires it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Yes, those all are sounds.

From Wikipedia:

Tinnitus is a variety of sound that is heard when no corresponding external sound is present.

Should have been more distinct. Sounds are just vibration, they don't need to go through air.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

But neither tinnitus or cochlear implants have any vibration associated. If they are sounds then sounds are more than just vibrations. At the same time, not all vibrations are sounds.

The argument is that sound is part of our internal processing of sensations. If there is no brain to perceive it, is it a sound, or just a vibration in the air?