Tree in the forest argument

Most people are familiar with the old philosophical example about the tree falling in the forest and whether it makes a sound if no one is around to witness it. The human idea that something doesn’t exist if a human isn’t around to witness, or detect it, is wrong. However,the question becomes the following: How did you know about the tree in the first place? You didn’t. It’s a manufactured example that exists solely in your head — just like the scientific example of traveling faster than the speed of light and coming back to earth, where everybody has aged disproportionately. Presupposing that you have knowledge about a tree falling in a forest, while at the same time, questioning whether it made a sound, doesn’t even make sense. Hypothetical examples exist in the imagination.

Originally published at http://jaymejradio.wordpress.com on March 14, 2014.