So I was asking my LPO the famous tree question:

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

My LPO, being a Sonar Technician, said no for this reason:

"In order for there to be a sound, there must exist three things in the situation: First, a maker of the sound, the sound itself, and something that can measure and acknowledge the sound ever existed at all. A sound cannot be made from nothing, there has to be a reason - even if it's the wind. So take away the first, and there will be no sound. Obviously if you take away the sound itself, then there will be no sound. And, if nothing is there to recieve the sound, then there is no logical proof that the sound ever existed at all. Take away any of the three components, and you cannot have a sound."

Agree or disagree?

well the chipmunk that heard it fall doesn't speak english, so disagree

The real question is "If a tree falls in a forest and nobody is around to hear it, does anybody care?"

How does a chipmunk communicate that it heard the sound? If it can't... then maybe it didnt....

but what if the chipmunk relays the message to its fellow chipmunls to warn them that a tree is falling and might squoosh them?

In the past people believed the world was flat in their paradigm they were correct and so I guess you are as well, however if you look at it this way even prior to that paradigm being broken or disproved the world was still round not flat so I would say it depends on how you look at it.
for me I say unless the tree fell in a vacuum it made a sound.

Exactly Obscure....

I'll say that's a fairly good answere if your going to interpret the question literally.

I'm a programmer LOL we take everything literally, that and we had to write a paper on this ? in my high school physics class

I kinda disagree with that, if there is nothing around to acknowledge the sounds existence, it can still exist.

ask the guy under the tree

he wishes it made a sound

I exist but am not always heard hmmmm. But back to the tree, I can hear a baby cry but am not in the same room so I disagree.

Oh, cool, I wish my teachers would have asked me interesting questions like that. what was your answere for that question using physics? Or is that your answere?

a more detailed version of what i had answered, funny thing was that was the best class I ever had and the coolest teacher it was all quantum physics so there was a lot of philosophical stuff like that basically the idea is since we don't know for sure something is there then it is not, I like to think about what "" isn't there
but please don't let me bore you I swear I can be a funny guy just don't get me started on E=MC square or my job you'll never want to
talk to me again LOL. so what are your thoughts on the tree LOL

Humm so yur saying just because no one heard it there was no sound when it fell hummmmm sounds like the LPO needs to do some thinking so he is saying that there are no waves in the ocean because no one saw them?


Hummmmm WRONG THOUGHT

If someone falls from a 30 foot high tree and faints on the way down does it hurt?

No, the morphine drip will numb the pain.

I woudn't ask if I wasn't genuinely interested If you don't wanna tell thats your call. I personaly agree that there is no sound if you interpret the question literally. If I choose to interpret it as "Do probabilities that we can imagine beyond our imediate environment happen if you don't process them" Then my answere is yes the tree makes a noise. It may not be relavent to what I'm doing now but I genuinely feel that all the things you can think of are happening somewhere.