If a tree falls...

Ok, so... I just posted this as a comment on Pharyngula, but I like it enough to repost it here.




"When a tree falls in the forest,
There is sound", the people chorused,
But a pressure wave is simply not identical with sound.
I'm not making the suggestion
That it's not a stupid question
But this answer is as dumb as any other that's around.
It's less "answer" than "illusion";
It's assuming its conclusion,
So it's true by definition, but the definition's wrong!
Is the stimulus sensation?
An erroneous conflation
Of the pressure and perception--leave them both where they belong!
This ignores the useful labor
Both of Fechner and of Weber
Who invented psychophysics to explore the problem right
Now their sig-detection theory
Might make researchers grow weary
But it works to study taste and touch, and sound and smell and sight!



Besides, Danae rocks...