Sitaram
kickbox
Someone once asked the meaning of the often heard question: "If a
tree falls in a forest, and there is no one to hear it, then does it
make a sound?"
What we call "sound" is a phenomenon which has three requirements
in order to occur.
There must be some living creature with a sense of hearing, to detect
vibrations in some medium.
There must be some medium to transmit and propagate the energy
waves (or sound waves) which will be detected (experienced) by the
organ of hearing. Usually, we think of this medium as air, but water
and metal may also serve as a medium to transmit sound vibrations.
Sound travels many times faster in water than in air, and many times
faster in steel than in water.
Thirdly, there must be some event which releases energy to create the
vibrations which we call sound waves.
Some years ago, there was a brief run of an outer space drama which
was something of a failure, and starred the same fellow who plays
"Matlock" (Andy Griffin). I remember a scene where someone is
outside of a space ship in his space suit, and hears a person inside
the spaceship, trapped, and banging on the walls with a wrench. Of
course, outer space is a vacuum, so the person in the space suit
could not possibly "hear" the sound of the banging wrench.
Many profound paradoxes, especially in logic and mathematics, arise
from something which is "self-referential."
Bertrand Russell gave examples involving the set of all sets which do
not contain themselves, and the sole barber in a town who shaves
only those who do not shave themselves (then who shaves the
barber).
I am not saying that our tree falling in an empty forest is an
example of self-referentiality, though perhaps our definition of
sound itself is somewhat self-referential, since we treat sound as
something objective (out there) which simply "happens" and yet sound
involves "hearing" with is most subjective and requires a listener.
There are special whistles which create a sound of such a high
frequency that only dogs can hear it. So, if I blow such a whistle
when no dog is in ear-shot, then, the whistle makes no sound. If I
blow the whistle when a dog is nearby, then the dog comes running
and barks at the sound which the dog hears but I cannot hear.
It is something like Zeno's paradox. Achilles (who is swift) must
constantly traverse half of the distance between himself and the
finish line. Since we may divide that distance into and infinity
number of "halves", then, by such logic, Achilles should never reach
the finish line, even if it is only a few feet away.
Some paradoxes are "artifacts" of the premises and definitions which
we erect to deal with the problem. That is, they are artificial and
disappear when we use different premises and definitions.
Many Zen koans strive for even more challenging paradoxes. "What is
the sound of one hand clapping?" "Show me your original face before
your parents were born." "Does a dog have Buddha nature?"
There are forms of energy, light, vibrations, heat, etc. which our
bodily organs cannot sense, but which we may DETECT with
instrumentation which we have devised.
The night is not pitch black darkness when we look at infrared.
Outer space is not a silent void when we listen to radio waves.
tree falls in a forest, and there is no one to hear it, then does it
make a sound?"
What we call "sound" is a phenomenon which has three requirements
in order to occur.
There must be some living creature with a sense of hearing, to detect
vibrations in some medium.
There must be some medium to transmit and propagate the energy
waves (or sound waves) which will be detected (experienced) by the
organ of hearing. Usually, we think of this medium as air, but water
and metal may also serve as a medium to transmit sound vibrations.
Sound travels many times faster in water than in air, and many times
faster in steel than in water.
Thirdly, there must be some event which releases energy to create the
vibrations which we call sound waves.
Some years ago, there was a brief run of an outer space drama which
was something of a failure, and starred the same fellow who plays
"Matlock" (Andy Griffin). I remember a scene where someone is
outside of a space ship in his space suit, and hears a person inside
the spaceship, trapped, and banging on the walls with a wrench. Of
course, outer space is a vacuum, so the person in the space suit
could not possibly "hear" the sound of the banging wrench.
Many profound paradoxes, especially in logic and mathematics, arise
from something which is "self-referential."
Bertrand Russell gave examples involving the set of all sets which do
not contain themselves, and the sole barber in a town who shaves
only those who do not shave themselves (then who shaves the
barber).
I am not saying that our tree falling in an empty forest is an
example of self-referentiality, though perhaps our definition of
sound itself is somewhat self-referential, since we treat sound as
something objective (out there) which simply "happens" and yet sound
involves "hearing" with is most subjective and requires a listener.
There are special whistles which create a sound of such a high
frequency that only dogs can hear it. So, if I blow such a whistle
when no dog is in ear-shot, then, the whistle makes no sound. If I
blow the whistle when a dog is nearby, then the dog comes running
and barks at the sound which the dog hears but I cannot hear.
It is something like Zeno's paradox. Achilles (who is swift) must
constantly traverse half of the distance between himself and the
finish line. Since we may divide that distance into and infinity
number of "halves", then, by such logic, Achilles should never reach
the finish line, even if it is only a few feet away.
Some paradoxes are "artifacts" of the premises and definitions which
we erect to deal with the problem. That is, they are artificial and
disappear when we use different premises and definitions.
Many Zen koans strive for even more challenging paradoxes. "What is
the sound of one hand clapping?" "Show me your original face before
your parents were born." "Does a dog have Buddha nature?"
There are forms of energy, light, vibrations, heat, etc. which our
bodily organs cannot sense, but which we may DETECT with
instrumentation which we have devised.
The night is not pitch black darkness when we look at infrared.
Outer space is not a silent void when we listen to radio waves.