Today I find out for real, if a tree makes a sound in the forest if no one is around to hear it fall.
11 thoughts on “I am chopping down a tree. I am looking for the answer”
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Today I find out for real, if a tree makes a sound in the forest if no one is around to hear it fall.
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Hello Mr. Mavis. This is a great exemplification of the semiotic relationship between the sign and the interpreter. You embodied in a perfectly humorous way how the coexistence between sound and image as the sign can only exist with when in presence of the interpretant. Congratulations!
Thanks, my dear. You even caught my easter egg. By playing the song at the end extremely loud, I engage the viewer of my video with their sense of hearing. Sound becomes the main thing that the “Viewer” (Again in quotations because of the irony) has to pay attention to. Additionally, my video can be a point of reference to someone who interprets this question, further enhancing a semiotic relationship
Hi Django!! This experiment really changed the way I look at trees, and for that I am truly grateful. The question you’re looking at is basically a perfect metaphor for mediation. Does an event matter in the same way if there’s no device, platform, or audience to capture it? It reminded me of how we discuss technologies shaping what counts as real or perceivable. Thank you so much for investigating. ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ????
Those questions marks were supposed to be tree emojis…
Truly. As a wise man once told me, the sun will still shine and the rain will still fall.
Hi Django. Wow. I truly have no words. I loved your direct and hands-on approach to this experiment — something that seems so theoretical does truly have a simple solution. To be frank, I didn’t know what to expect at the beginning of the video — would you run away before the tree fell so you wouldn’t hear it? Would you get far enough for it to count? Would you continue recording to gain scientific proof that there is no sound? Your argument that sound is produced within human ears made me think about Wegenstein’s argument of our body mediating all our cultural and worldly experiences. Evidently, to us, if we did not hear a tree fall, it did not make a sound. This is somewhat of a self-centered argument, in my opinion, however, it’s true that this event would not have any impact on any human (or animal’s) life and perspective, which could support your point that it did not make a sound at all. This pushed me to think about other objects that might perceive sound. If you left your phone recording and it picked up the sound with no life around, would this presence replicate ours? Or does the artificial presence interact with nature in a manner that messes with theories of sound and existence?
Hi Django, I really enjoyed your experiment, which was really thought-provoking and how it has challenged us to rethink our definition of what is to be counted as a sound. I thought it was really interesting how your conception of what is to be counted as sound requires an interpreter (a subject) to make sense of it, which differentiates from the scientific definition of sound being just vibrations of particles. I can see how this raises important questions of the semiotics of our world in the modern age of media. Thank you for your work!
Django, this was great! I really appreciated hearing your interpretation that sound requires a body to actually receive and create vibrations. It reminds me of how in the chapter Wegenstein wrote about the body regarding how the body is the primordial medium, implying that our bodies are the most basic and original medium through which we experience and interact with the world. I really like how you explore this through the idea of cutting down a tree. I also loved how Creep (2014) this whole video you made was. Very good post!
wow the semiotic recognition of my reference to the movie Creep (2014)
The question of “does the tree make a sound if no one is there to hear it” is genuinely interesting to think about.
I see others have commented about Wegenstein’s writing about our body being the primordial medium. I would argue that though sound is a result of the air being received by our ears, a tree falling down in the forest still makes the air vibrate differently. So as per physics, a sound is still produced if no one is there to hear it. However from the perspective of semiotics, it does not make a sound.
Such a question can be asked about a multitude of things. But one that popped into my mind was “Does creating something matter if no one would receive it?” Particularly in terms of art. Art is a form of expression. But does it really become art until it is viewed? Is the knowledge of its existence what makes it art or is it the expression of the artist?
This is ragebait.