So.
When a tree falls in a forest...
You all know where this is going.
According to our (humanity's) greatest minds, sound is a phenomenon that occurs when vibrations (sound waves) enter our ear canal and essentially jiggle around our earparts. SO!
Without the human ear involved in this equation, sound, by it's denotative definition, is absent.
I'm going to focus blindly and specifically on this particular question, that is, whether a felled tree makes a sound upon hitting the earth if nobody is around to hear it. Through the correspondent theory of truth, sound waves are sound waves, no? We know that sound waves equal sound. Despite the fact that a given Joe's earparts are not in fact jiggling, the catalyzing factor (the sound waves) are still present. So, does the potentiality for sound being created mean that the sound exists?
What if Joe's earparts aren't jiggled, but Notwood Porcupine's are shaking off the map! Is a sound still created? A coherentist would say that yes, porcupines have ears. They have earparts. Soundwaves+earparts=sound. BUT HOW DO WE REALLY KNOW? Without inhabiting a porcupines consciousness with our own, there is no way to prove this.
I'm not sure I'm cohering to anything at this point, but by all means, DKJ and classmates, ridicule/comment/complain to your heart's content.
Regards!
Ty
