If a tree falls in the forest...

"Does a tree falling in the forest make a sound if there is no one around to hear it?" The age-old question...and finally an answer...

"Not only would the falling tree still exist even though no perceiver happened to be around, its fall would create acoustic energy in the form of air pressure waves. But would this constitute sound? If the term "sound" means a perceptual experience, then clearly the falling tree would not produce a sound. For the tree to produce a sound requires the presence of some organism with a sensory system capable of registering the available acoustic energy. But even this does not guarantee that the resulting experience would be what is normally called sound. It's conceivable that the organism that is present may not be able to hear, because it has no ears, but instead could feel the energy produced by the falling tree (in the same way that you can literally feel the beat of a bass drum). To qualify as sound, the energy must strike the ears of a human - or some other creature with a nervous system like that of a human."*

So then, it only makes what is termed "a sound" if there is an organism around capable of registering it as "a sound." Otherwise, there is no one to perceive the event and claim it's existence. If the organism can only feel the sound, then it's a physical sensation, not an auditory one. Hmmm.... I think I'm still confused.

* exerpt taken from: Blake, Randolph & Sekuler, Robert. Perception 4th Ed. 2002. McGraw-Hill: New York.

Women's Issues...

I think it is impossible to have an accurate body image of yourself. No matter what, your opinion is colored by other beliefs, whether good or bad, true or false. For instance, I was thinking today that since beginning running, I like my legs more - even planning on showin' them off later (it is Valentine's Day). Then I thought "well, do they look better?" and I really couldn't say. The other day I thought my knees totally looked chubby when I was trying on a skirt. So then I thought, "well maybe now that my legs are such a high-performance body part (if I do say so myself) that I just like them more." So, if I like them more because I appreciate all the hard work they do, I perceive them to be better than I did before. But, since I haven't lost a pound, and I still haven't gotten fully into my phase 2 skinny jeans I really have no material evidence that they look any better. It seems that perception is really the key. Perhaps then, one of the paths to loving yourself - and your body - is to make it worthy of praise and pride!

disclaimer...

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense" - Buddha