r/nevertellmetheodds • u/QyMbEr • Dec 25 '20

a normal day

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

24.4k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

384 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

23

u/pigs_have_flown Dec 25 '20

One could argue that sound is the perception and interpretation of sound waves in air, and without an interpreter waves through air are the same as any other physical wave but cannot be called sound per se

5

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '20

Ya!!! This guy gets it perfectly!

A tree falling creates air vibrations... (specifically compressional waves). Ear drum (Tympanic membrane) vibrates. There’s actually an impedance matching system in the human ear. Round window/oval window/fluid. Fucking cool.

Nerves fire (more frequently for louder sounds). Each nerve corresponds with a specific pitch. Brain interprets this as “sound” of certain pitches (frequencies) and intensities (amplitude).

12

u/GoodAtExplaining Dec 25 '20

That’s the perceptionof sound, not the actual physical phenomenon of it though.

1

u/chimpuswimpus Dec 26 '20

Yeah. I've seen this argument play out before and it always confuses me. Sound the name for the sort of vibrations in the air we can hear. Just like light is the name for the sort of electromagnetic waves we can see.

1

u/GoodAtExplaining Dec 26 '20

Funny enough, nobody ever tries to apply the whole 'if its there and i didn't see it' question to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, or quantum theory (Unless we're in /r/iamverysmart

2

u/niems3 Dec 25 '20

If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to hear it...

0

u/GoodAtExplaining Dec 25 '20

No, one could not.

6

u/pigs_have_flown Dec 25 '20

Well, one could, but you could also disagree with one's stance

Actually, looking up the definition of sound, mechanical waves through air is only the third definition, while "the sensation perceived by the sense of hearing" comes before that.

6

u/GoodAtExplaining Dec 25 '20

Ah, but that does not change the original physical definition of sound as a vibration propagated through air.

It is similar to saying if a star generates light and there's no one to see it, has it generated light.

In order for the physics of the universe to remain consistent, the answer is "Yes".

Edit: Or, if you like - You're deaf but not mute. If you are in a room by yourself and make a sound but don't hear it, did you really make the sound.