From: dnomhcir@gmx.com
Ed Cryer writes:
> I should think that anyone at all perusing a philosophy forum will
> recognise the maxim in the title. If a tree falls in a Siberian forest
> and there's no one around to hear it, does it make a noise? They'll
> also recognise the standard reply. Falling trees cause vibrations in
> the air, which impact on eardrums and produce the perception of sound
> in the mind. No ears, no sound.
>
> This is, of course, the main entry point into phenomenalism (what
> George Berkeley termed "empirical idealism"). I believe that today
> realism rules the roost. But I'm not sure just why.
>
> Does anyone know of any knockout arguments in favour of metaphysical
> realism?
>
> Ed
>
> There once was a man who said "God Must think it exceedingly odd If he
> finds that this tree Continues to be When there's no one about in the
> Quad."
>
>
> Dear Sir, Your astonishment's odd. I am always about in the Quad.
> And that's why the tree Will continue to be Since
> observed by Yours faithfully, God
I can't answer the point directly, but I can waffle on about something
vaguely related in physics, i.e. decoherence. The Schrödinger's Cat
theory is usually used in support of the idea that the observer's
observation affects reality. But an alternative way to see it is that
information has leaked from the system, and so superposition is lost. So
in the case of the tree, maybe it has both fallen and not fallen, until
some information leaks from the system, i.e. the sound. It need not be
heard, it could simply affect the ground with vibrations. So, if a tree
fell down in a forest surrounded by a cryogenically cooled isolation
system, then maybe it didn't and did.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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