Philosophy...Kinda...

[jstott]

No, its different. Waves are not neural representations - sounds are. A more accurate parallel would be the question: "If nobody can see, is there any colour?"

[WarSmith]

OK, I get your line... a sound is our perception of a certain wavelength: fair enough. And colour is a great analogy.
So the question is definately a philosophical one then, concerning our perception of the world around us, and the nature of existence.
My question is: do you exist, does anyone else, or anything? Or are you all figments of my imagination? The only thing I am sure of is that I exist, 'I think therefore I am' - or at least I think I think I am...

[Julano]

Colour isn't really an analogy, it's a question of its own.

From Wikipedia:
"Sound is a traveling wave which is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations."

So based on this definition it doesn't make a sound because it is not sufficiently strong enough to be heard.

Well, I guess it can be heard, it just so happens that there's no-one there to hear it.

[Wellington]

My question is: do you exist, does anyone else, or anything? Or are you all figments of my imagination?

If we don't exist, you are one sick puppy.

[jstott]

If we are all figments of someone's imagination, then what can we assume about said person?

Are they a realist in a theoretical "true" sense, or just in our universe's sense?

[beowulf7]

Everything is perception - there is NO absolute reality

Any particular "sound" only exists within the human mind - though the vibrations are a physical thing

When I was younger I could hear bats but now I cannot. The bats have not changed but my ears have. The vibration is still there but now there is "no sound". "Sound" is a construct of the human mind - same as sight, same as fear. If a lion growls and nobody knows is there still fear?

So No, there is no sound without eared observation....(but we have changed the question of course)

[infinity8ball]

Everything is perception - there is NO absolute reality

Any particular "sound" only exists within the human mind - though the vibrations are a physical thing

When I was younger I could hear bats but now I cannot. The bats have not changed but my ears have. The vibration is still there but now there is "no sound". "Sound" is a construct of the human mind - same as sight, same as fear. If a lion growls and nobody knows is there still fear?

So No, there is no sound without eared observation....(but we have changed the question of course)

If everything is just perception, what is it we're all perceiving?

There is an ultimate reality, you can't get around it!

[beowulf7]

Infinity

No, I don't think that is true (blah, blah, quantum world, etc) but actually even if there is one "reality" then it is unimportant. What we see as "reality" is in fact perception - the sky is not really blue unless our eyes/brain create the concept of "blueness". In the west there are seven colours of the rainbow, in the east there are five. We perceive rainbows as having different numbers of bands because that is what we expect. In the west we have "pink" but in China they don't - they say "light red". Is that strange? Not really, they have a special colour we call light blue. Are buttercups yellow? Not if you are a bumble bee. By definition no two humans can ever perceive the exact same reality (as they cannot fully know the inside of the other person's mind). And if sound does not exist if we don't perceive it, then as we have no possibility of everyone perceiving the same reality then neither can a single reality exist.

Lol, that's a big statement but again I go back to saying "actually it is not important". Because everything we perceive is a reflection of some reality then we live in a world of perceptions - but that is our world and it is the only one we have. And just because it is slightly artificial does not mean it has no meaning. Diplomacy is not "real" but we all accept boundaries and certain common beliefs. So with the "real" world. If deep sea creatures believe that nothing can live outside of water does that negate their existence? No. We work with that part of existence that we can perceive, we do (hopefully) what we see to be "right".

And for that reason you CAN convoy through Kiel!

[infinity8ball]

Infinity

No, I don't think that is true (blah, blah, quantum world, etc) but actually even if there is one "reality" then it is unimportant. What we see as "reality" is in fact perception - the sky is not really blue unless our eyes/brain create the concept of "blueness". In the west there are seven colours of the rainbow, in the east there are five. We perceive rainbows as having different numbers of bands because that is what we expect. In the west we have "pink" but in China they don't - they say "light red". Is that strange? Not really, they have a special colour we call light blue. Are buttercups yellow? Not if you are a bumble bee. By definition no two humans can ever perceive the exact same reality (as they cannot fully know the inside of the other person's mind). And if sound does not exist if we don't perceive it, then as we have no possibility of everyone perceiving the same reality then neither can a single reality exist.

Lol, that's a big statement but again I go back to saying "actually it is not important". Because everything we perceive is a reflection of some reality then we live in a world of perceptions - but that is our world and it is the only one we have. And just because it is slightly artificial does not mean it has no meaning. Diplomacy is not "real" but we all accept boundaries and certain common beliefs. So with the "real" world. If deep sea creatures believe that nothing can live outside of water does that negate their existence? No. We work with that part of existence that we can perceive, we do (hopefully) what we see to be "right".

And for that reason you CAN convoy through Kiel!

Beo, I'm not sure you understood me.

I acknowledged that we all perceive things differently, but what we perceive IS reality. That there is something really there for us to perceive. The world exists, the sky exists, sea creatures actually exist. They exist outside of my perception of them, as you stated with your sea creatures example in reference to us.

I would argue though that this reality IS important. It's why we study the sciences and try to understand the world. You can perceive that your cancer went away, but unless chemo helps that happen, wishful thinking will get you killed. (White ball of healing light anyone? That's right, your pain is a white ball of healing light.)

It is also this real world that we base our judgements off of. If I murder someone, you'll throw me in jail because I ACTUALLY killed them. Not because more people perceived me killing them than not. I get out of the way of a speeding car not because I think I have a lone perception of the car about to hit me, but because it *actually will* kill me.