CUP #136 coffee cup collection

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

There is only one answer to this brain teaser.

No.

A sound is only a sound if it is heard. 

Sound has a definition both concurrent to our scientific understanding and a separate more broadly used definition in colloquial language. Humans have documented the act of hearing for thousands of years in language. That use doesn’t rectify itself simply because science has a greater understanding of the process and systems at work. (It will take education and correct usage to reconcile these two coexisting definitions of sound. Thus, in these times, two definitions and uses and understandings of the term sound seems to create an existential conundrum, but it doesn’t.

A sound is not and are not sound waves. Sound waves are just potential. Without ears, sound waves remain just waves of potential sound to be heard if ears were present. Yet, the question posed clearly states that no ears are present. Sound waves should actually be called “disturbance” waves. A sound wave is not a thing, it is a state of being for matter when matter shifts. Not unlike water turns to ice and snow, atoms conveys their altered state through transformation. Atoms are said to vibrate transferring energy to surrounding atoms. Math and graphs and other tools of human calculation define this state as energy passing through matter in the form of a wave. 

Now, some would say that matter doesn’t transform but that energy passes.

I believe that is a simplification in metaphors as well. Atoms momentarily insolvent to account for displacement.

The only reason matter isn’t seen to be the wave itself is because we are observing it. Remember, math is based on human observation. It can’t calculate non-human experience. It just can’t. It’s illogical to say it can. 

To the Universe (I’ve capital this concept because I use the word as a state were a non-observer can exist) energy sweeps through directly never pinning a wave into matter. To the Universe, the collection of matter forming the tree is not different than the air surrounding the the tree. Sure the tree, the guitar string, the bell are tightly amassed but they are water all the same. A deluge of water, ice or snow create similar impacts as tree, string and bell. 

To head further down the rabbit hole, I ask, why do sound waves even exist if our potential as observers aren’t present to maintain matter as a tree? My best extrapolation is that we are not the only spieces with a collective consciousness to interpret and constrain matter. We know that trees have a language too. Our botanical brethren are not just material. They use energy as we do to live, breathe and exist in a matrix of consciousness. Perhaps the questions should be: if all life is gone, can energy exist? 

Whether you're drinking your morning coffee, evening tea, or something in between—this mug's for you! It's sturdy and glossy with a vivid print that'll withstand the microwave and dishwasher.

• Ceramic
• 11 oz mug dimensions: 3.85″ (9.8 cm) in height, 3.35″ (8.5 cm) in diameter
• 15 oz mug dimensions: 4.7″ (12 cm) in height, 3.35″ (8.5 cm) in diameter
• Dishwasher and microwave safe
• Blank product sourced from China