who said if a tree falls in the woods and nobody hears it
Philosopher George Berkeley Charles Riborg Mann George Ransom Twiss
title: If a tree falls in a forest text: it does, thus giving the entire riddle the status of a kind of an infallible conjecture—one that cannot be either proved or disproved. The current phrasing appears to have originated in the 1910 book "Physics" by Charles Riborg Mann and George Ransom Twiss. The question "When a tree falls in a lonely forest, and no animal is near by to hear it, does it make a sound? Why?" is posed along with many other questions to quiz readers on the contents of the chapter, and as such, is posed from a purely physical point of view. Can something exist without title: If a tree falls in a forest text: senses through the mechanism of the ear, and recognized as sound only at our nerve centers. The falling of the tree or any other disturbance will produce vibration of the air. If there be no ears to hear, there will be no sound." Albert Einstein is reported to have asked his fellow physicist and friend Niels Bohr, one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics, whether he realistically believed that 'the moon does not exist if nobody is looking at it.' To this Bohr replied that however hard he (Einstein) may try, he would not be able to prove that title: If a tree falls in a forest text: If a tree falls in a forest "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" is a philosophical thought experiment that raises questions regarding observation and perception. Philosopher George Berkeley, in his work, "A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge" (1710), proposes, "But, say you, surely there is nothing easier than for me to imagine trees, for instance, in a park [...] and nobody by to perceive them. [...] The objects of sense exist only when they are perceived; the trees therefore are in the garden [...] title: If a tree falls in a forest text: no longer than while there is somebody by to perceive them." (It is worth noting that the quote from section 45 is arguably a statement of an "objection" to Berkeley's view, and not a proclamation of it.) Nevertheless, Berkeley never actually wrote about the question. Some years later, a similar question is posed. It is unknown whether the source of this question is Berkeley or not. In June 1883 in the magazine "The Chautauquan", the question was put, "If a tree were to fall on an island where there were no human beings would there be any sound?" They then title: If a tree falls in a forest text: being perceived? – e.g. ""is sound only sound if a person hears it?"" The most immediate philosophical topic that the riddle introduces involves the existence of the tree (and the sound it produces) outside of human perception. If no one is around to see, hear, touch or smell the tree, how could it be said to exist? What is it to say that it exists when such an existence is unknown? Of course, from a scientific viewpoint, it exists. It is human beings that are able to perceive it. George Berkeley in the 18th century developed subjective idealism, a metaphysical