Reply #48: Bullfrogs :)

[greyl]

The thought experiment assumes that the tree fell (and also, I guess, that non-human organisms aren't considered important).
The answer depends on how "sound" is defined.

I mean if you wanna go all existentialist "Radical Doubt" on the topic - even if we both were there and claimed to experience the auditory sensation of hearing it, we still wouldn't know beyond a radical doubt if the tree falling made a sound.

To me, the point of this thought experiment isn't to lead to the more fundamental question "what is real?". I mean, why not just start with that question? That's why it doesn't feel like an honest question. It's just a silly false paradox stemming from a human centered view of the world.