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“If a tree falls and no one is around to hear it does the tree make a sound?” asks the one with Zen.

“Yes,” says the confident one without Zen.

“But if no one is around to hear it then how do you know it still makes a sound?” replies the one with Zen.

“…” replies the one without Zen.

I love this but not because of it’s supposed capability to transcend human conscious thought but because of the narrow-mindedness of both the one asking the question and the one responding so assuredly. Especially if you consider if a tree still makes a sound if a deaf person is on hand to see such an event but is still otherwise unable to hear what he sees (pre-supposing that the rhetorical question is rooted in the mere sight of this event.)

A simple fact is that the ear does not create sound but it is made to receive sound waves emitted from a source. And depending on the way in which the many functions of the ears are created, the sound itself can be heard in many various ways (such as certain animals having different hearing abilities than us). Trees also do not make sound but if it falls the act of it striking the ground creates a sonic wave that the ears are designed to receive…

(Continue reading this post via A Flagrant Repulsive Counterpoint)